


The Forgotten's Tale

by LadyShiro



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, American Sign Language, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Humanstuck, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Minor Original Character(s), My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, My First Work in This Fandom, No Smut, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character, POV Alternating, POV Outsider, POV Second Person, Post-Canon, Social Media, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2020-01-15 04:37:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 39,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18491509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyShiro/pseuds/LadyShiro
Summary: The story we all know and love is over. The kids and trolls won The Game, and now they can finally rest on Earth C.That is until The Game decides that some people deserved a second chance.Four trolls which didn't get enough attention finally have a place in the spotlight... Or rather, were thrown into the said spotlight against their will.Well... Guess we're saving the world now...?(My first fanfiction, inspired by 09Pyros_09Hydros's fanfic "To Live A Normal Life? How Preposterous!" I love this fic and kiiiinda decided to do my own take on it? In this story, watch as trolls who are often ignored by canon and fanon alike turn into heroes!This was posted after the epilogue, but it doesn't follow it. Making this fic an alternative universe.)





	1. Deep Sea Girl.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [09Pyros_09Hydros](https://archiveofourown.org/users/09Pyros_09Hydros/gifts).
  * Inspired by [To Live a Normal Life? How preposterous!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11470704) by [09Pyros_09Hydros](https://archiveofourown.org/users/09Pyros_09Hydros/pseuds/09Pyros_09Hydros). 



> Hello!  
> As mentioned in the summary, this doesn't follow the epilogue, making it an AU.  
> I will warn right now- I may not finish this. Writing isn't really my forte, and I'm not even sure how I'll finish this! So while I have a few chapters planned, this fic may take a while to update.  
> Sorry for any OOCness, this is my first time writing this kinda stuff!

_Saturday, April 13th._

Birds cheerfully sang outside. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue, with clouds scattered around. It had been a few hours after dawn, and some people could be seen around jogging or simply walking to wherever they needed to be on a Saturday morning. On the streets, few cars milled around, not enough to cause traffic, but enough that it could be called a fairly busy morning.

On a certain street, there was a large baby-pink two-story house, with a grand garden surrounding it, it was clear that whoever lived in that house was a person of wealth.

Behind the binds of one of the house's many windows, there was a large bedroom. Decorative shells and other sea-related ornaments decorated the walls of the room. There was a white expensive-looking wardrobe pushed into one of the dark pink walls, with various pictures taped into its doors. At last but not least, was a quite messy bed in one of the room's corners. Blankets were thrown around seemingly without a care, a pillow on the floor and three others scattered around the bed. And in the middle of it all... Hair?

You see, those blankets weren't "thrown around seemingly without care". In fact, dear reader, they were strategically placed to offer the most comfort for whoever was in the middle of this pile- _in fact, who the hell would make such pile in the first place?!_

**== >: ??????: Get out of that pile so you can introduce yourself better!**

...What? No! you're comfortable here, and you'd like it to stay that way, thank you.

**== >: Seriously?? Can't you notice it? You're on a BED. Not a RECUPERACOON.**

And what's the problem with thaaaaAAAAT OH MY COD!

You sit up so quickly you end up dizzy for a moment. That moment, however, quickly passes as you realize that, as the strange voice in your head said, you were sleeping in a _bed,_ just like a _human,_ which, last time you checked, you aren't.

**== >: If you're done freaking out, how about introducing yourself? **

You're not really done freaking out. After all, it's not every day you get to sleep outside your recuperacoon _without_ having daymares. But you guess it's better to just get introductions out of the way.

Your name is FEFERI PEIXES. You're a FUCHSIA BLOODED TROLL with a variety of INTERESTS, mainly, your LOVE for SEA LIFE. You live in THE OCEAN after all, and one must know their neighbors! Other interests you have are your liking to SINGING and TAKING CARE OF HURT ANIMALS. Mainly CUTTLEFISH. 

**== > Feferi: Examine bed.**

You examine the mysterious bed/pile you woke up on. Perhaps there was sopor slime poured in here to make sleeping comfortable...?

Nope. Not a single drop of the beloved green slime. How strange, you slept peacefully _without_ sopor slime? What the shell...

 _Oh._ You chuckle quietly to yourself. Back with the sea puns. _Oh well, what's a Peixes WITHOUT the sea puns?_

You decide to look around and examine the room you are right now. You get out of bed and stretch, feeling (and hearing) some bones pop in a rather satisfying way. That's when you first realize it- _your head feels lighter than it should._

Confused, you lift your hand up to your head, where your horns are... _WAIT A SECOND!-_

_They're gone._

You're trembling now. Who could have done this...? Horn-cutting is one of the most terrific crimes one could commit on Alternia- _Almost as bad as castrating!-_ The horns are a troll's pride. Each and every single horn unique, the only exceptions being a troll and his/her ancestor! And most importantly... _how..?_ surely you would have noticed _\- or at least felt!-_ if someone sneaked up on you while you were sleeping to do this... **Barbarity!**

_Come on Feferi, what is the last thing you remember...?_

**== >Feferi: Remember.**

_You remember The dreambubbles. They had become your home after you died at the hands of your ex-moirail, then Jack Noir._

_Your memory is somewhat... Fuzzy? Something feels off in all of this. You remember holding a stuffed bunny, then being part of the ghost army that helped defeat Lord English... Then... Nothing. there are some very clear holes in your memories after you died..._

_Did your friends beat the game? You certainly hope so. If not all that sacrifice would have been for **nothing-**_

**== > Feferi: Notice something... Strange.**

Are you kidding me? this entire situation is Fishy! (heh.) You wake up in some random respiteblock- _apparently 'bedroom', judging of the queen-sized bed in the corner-_ , find out you somehow slept JUST FINE without sopor slime, find out your horns are **GONE.** , and you have gaping holes in your memories. _What could be stranger than all of THAT?-_

You catch sight of your hand.

It's... white?- No, wait! There's a bit of pink in it too... _Why is it so dark in here?_

You find a light switch and flick it on. You stare at the room. It feels oddly... _homely? familiar?_ how come...?

You look at your hand once again, and _**What The Actual Gl'bgolyb.**_

It IS pale. Not rainbow-drinker pale, but paler than it should be, and with an undertone of pink and _definetly not grey-_

**== > Feferi: Calm down. You're Hyperventilating.**

You clutch your head, dark hair falling between your fingertips and shoulders _(Thank Cod it's still black)_ and as you try to calm down, you catch sight of something shiny, next to the bed you were previously sleeping on.

You stand up straight and look at it. it's a full body mirror, tilted away from you. As you slowly walk towards it, you can feel your stomach drop more and more.

You're standing directly in front of the mirror now. Your shaking hands slowly tilt it towards you _and then-_

.  
.  
.

A human girl stares back at you. Dressed in light pink pajamas, with fair skin and waist-long wild black hair. You wouldn't have recognized her if it wasn't for the fearful **dark fuchsia** eyes she displayed.

_The color of your blood._

Your name is FEFERI PEIXES, and you are AFRAID, CONFUSED, and most of all, FUCKED.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was just the beginning! What do you think of it? This is my first time writing, so criticism is welcomed!


	2. Strong But Empty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breakfast is the most important meal. It makes you STRONG and ready for the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like last chapter was TOO fast-paced, so I decided to slow down the pacing on this one. What do you think?

_Saturday, April 13th._

It was, certainly, a rather strange situation.

Who were you kidding. "Rather strange" barely begins to cover what is going on right now.

You were sitting on a table in the middle of a medium-sized kitchen. The table was full, and by its contents, it was clear it was breakfast time. There was bread, bacon, eggs, a jar of orange juice, some coffee, and much more. Shame you weren't hungry.

Well, you _were_ hungry. It's just that you didn't have an appetite. You've never eaten human food before, and the fact that you knew what the stuff on the table was called made you feel... Uneasy. You weren't supposed to know this stuff, and you certainly don't remember learning about it.

Then again, you don't remember much in the first place. After that highblood got you (and even _before_ , surprisingly), your memories started to fade, with huge holes in it. You remember turning into some human's sprite, and you vaguely remember Fefetasprite _-Which reminds you, where is Nepeta?-_ but other than that... nothing. _How did you get here? Something must have happened._

Oh, how rude. You forgot to introduce yourself.

**== > ??????: Enter Name**

Your name is EQUIUS ZAHHAK. You are, _or were,_ an INDIGO BLOODED troll. You have a variety of interests, mainly HOOFBEASTS, MILK, THE HEMOSPECTRUM, and your moirail, NEPETA LEIJON. At the moment you are, for some reason, a _human._

You woke up this morning on a bed instead of a recuperacoon and after a bit of exploring, you heard a voice. It seemed to be coming from downstairs and after a short while, it called again. It seemed to be calling for someone, a human, you realized. The name only had 5 letters. After you were done examining the human respiteblock you woke up in, you opened the door and decided to explore more of the place you were in. It looked like a hive, but not quite. The walls and floor were made of wood, unlike the hives back in Alternia, that were made of a strong and sturdy gray material. That's when you realized for the first time:

The windows were open. _During the day._

Thats when _he_ appeared.

 _"Ethan! There you are. You weren't answering, so I thought you were still sleeping. Breakfast is ready! Come eat before it gets cold."_ Horuss Zahhak, your dancestor, greeted you from the bottom of the stairs. 

And so, here you are. Eating _human_ breakfast with your _human_ dancestor, in a _human_ hive.

 _House,_ you mentally correct yourself. You decide to eat toast with a bit of egg on top. After all, a highblood of your caste made it for you, so it couldn't be that bad, _right?_

As you eat, you ponder on the overall situation. Should you say anything to Horuss? Does he remember Sgrub or Alternia? If so, he certainly doesn't act like it. You think of a way to approach this topic as you munch on some toast, but he speaks before you can properly formulate a question.

"By the way, in case you're wondering, dad is in the barn. Remember that pregnant mare? She gave birth overnight and dad has been with her and the new baby since sunrise. I'm sure he'll join us soon enough though." Horuss said while pouring some more orange juice into his cup.

"Dad?" You question. _Isn't that the human word for-_

"Uh, yeah..? Ethan, are you okay? You didn't answer when I called you this morning, spaced out during breakfast _-don't think I didn't notice it-_ and now you're confused over dad of all things? Is everything alright? Did you sleep well?" Horuss asked, brows furrowed and with a small frown.

 _Oh fiddlesticks,_ you thought. _Quick, think of an excuse-_

**== > Equius: Think of a cliché excuse.**

"Well... I'm afraid not. But I'm fine now, thank you for asking." You answer quietly, not sure if that was the right thing to say.

Horuss's frown deepens. "Was it a nightmare? Talking about it can make you feel better, you know. Come on, spill."

"Well..." _Now's the time._ "I was on a different planet, there were two moons, strange buildings, and I... wasn't human. I had grey skin and orange horns -although, one was broken in half- And I was incredibly STRON-"

Your explanation is interrupted by the sound of a door opening. You look behind you and **_oh my gog is that who I think it is?_**

A tall man enters the house. He was wearing a dirty white sleeveless shirt, brown pants, had dark brown skin _-just like you-_ and long black hair, which was tied into a high ponytail. He looked over to the kitchen and saw the two of you. You held back a flinch as he locked eyes with you, _then smiled._

"Howard, Ethan. Good morning." The strange man said. The smile was small, barely noticeable, but still there. He took off his mud-covered boots and entered the house, gently closing the door behind him.

 _How???_ was the only thing in your mind. You had momentarily forgotten that _adults_ were allowed on the planet. You've never seen someone so damn _tall._ Not even the highblood that... killed... you was that tall. That thought made you think, _what if I'm dead and this is just the weirdest dreambubble to ever exist?_

**== > Equius: Abscond.**

As the adult approaches the table, you decide you're not hungry anymore and stand up, planning on going back to the room you woke up in and try to somehow get out of this dreambubble. You are, however, interrupted by a _large_ hand grasping your shoulder.

"You didn't finish your breakfast, is there a problem?" The man asked, and this time you couldn't hold your flinch, as the rough voice was too close to you for your own comfort and _there was an adult right next to you, touching your shoulder-_

_This wasn't supposed to be happening._

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm fine, d-don't worry, I'm not v-very hungry..." You stutter, hoping he would just _let go._

He frowns, slowly lowering his hands, and you speed-walk up the stairs. As you are walking to the corridor that will lead to your room, you pass that window you noticed in the beginning. You hesitate, hand hovering over the lock, then slowly open it. your eyes hurt at first, not used to sunlight, but as you look out the window you see a large grass field, some hills on the horizon, and, close to the house you were on, fences with animals inside. There is a large red barn nearby, and if you squinted, you could see the silhouette of some horses inside.

You try desperately to get out of this "dreambubble". You try and try and _try_ but it's not enough. You're still on this strange house, looking at the window, there are still cattle down there and _absolutely nothing_ has changed from since you woke up in this strange world-

_Perhaps this isn't a dreambubble._

Your name is EQUIUS ZAHHAK, and you _really_ want to SCREAM OUT OF FRUSTRATION.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right! I'll be using human names for this fic. I don't think the names "Equius" and "Horuss" would fit in modern society, and I hope you don't mind that change. It'll take our main characters a while to get used to these new names tho :0 
> 
> I currently have 6 chapters planned and let me tell you, I'm kinda anxious about chapter 5. I don't wanna spoil anything, but I'll let you know that I am _horrible_ at writing dialogue :/
> 
> Sorry if this chapter seemed rushed, I'm still learning.


	3. Of Cats And Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A walk in the park to clear your mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, I'm quite busy IRL, but hey! longest chapter yet!  
> Next chapter will probably come out next week!

_April 14th, Sunday._

A soft breeze swept through the trees. The sky was a pale shade of gray, filled with clouds as it would soon start to rain. The park was mostly devoid of people, for few would like to stay outside at such weather.

Walking through a cobblestone path was a lone woman. She wore a fluffy olive green coat with a dark purple scarf wrapped around her neck and black boots that occasionally kicked pebbles amongst her path as she went on her way with no particular destination in mind. Brown curly hair gently floated along the breeze to show a face that, although mature, still held some of its baby fat. The woman's eyes, green as pine needles in the middle of spring, lazily glanced at the surrounding flora. The dark circles under said eyes weren't that obvious under the foundation the woman had put on that morning, but the slump on her posture was enough to show how tired she was. It had been a mentally exhausting day for the young lady.

**== > ??????: Enter Name.**

Your name _was_ MEULIN LEIJON, and you _were_ an OLIVE BLOODED troll. But that is all in the past, for now, you are MELAINE LEIJON, a REGULAR HUMAN. You have a variety of interests, mainly CATS, SHIPPING, and FEELINGS.

Yesterday, you woke up in this strange world, in a strange body, and in a strange house. After lots of confusion and a major freak-out, memories slowly started pouring in. At first, simple things, such as street names and faces of people you can't really recall meeting, but as time went on, you could remember things you didn't live through. Memories that weren't yours, but at the same time, you somehow knew they _were_. Bits and pieces of a childhood you never had, memories of a family you never knew, and yet were so _familiar._ You remember having a younger sister, and a mother, both of them alive and _normal._

Well, at least this word's definition of normal. From your point of view, all of that was completely alien. A family? Adults on the planet? That and many other things puzzled you as more and more memories started pouring in. You had a pretty good grasp on how "Melanie's" life worked. Her routine, her loved ones, basically everything you need to know to live as her.

Which was what you were doing right now. Living on an alien body, on an alien planet. Confused and most importantly...

_Alone._

That hurt you the most. You didn't have your friends alongside you. Not Kurloz, not Horuss, not _anyone_. Your "human" family wasn't around either. Sure, they were alive and all, but you're an _adult._ You don't live with them. You have your own apartment quite far away from your mother's house, which you bought with your own money. Money that you got from working on a cozy little coffee shop near the park you are in currently. You broke up with "Carlos" back in your teenage years because he had _rage problems,_ not because he made you deaf. I'm fact, in this life, you were _born_ with bad hearing, which only got worse as years passed until you list your hearing completely.

**== > Meulin: Sigh.**

You sit down on a wooden bench near a fountain. You've (or at least, _Melanie_ has.) Been to this park many times since you've moved into your apartment about a year ago. Enough times to know that this is usually one of the quieter places around here. It has a peaceful atmosphere, and the gentle sound of the flowing water in the fountain puts it all together as a relaxing place, if not romantic.

You idly think what it would be like to confess to someone in this fountain. Had the day been sunny, there would probably be more butterflies around, asking with a few other insects. You imagine a young couple in front of the fountain, looking at each other with any smiles and blushes on their faces. The boy slowly stutters out how he likes the girl, and how amazing she is, then asks her out on a date. The girl is excited, as she also liked him a lot, and says yes while beaming at him. And so they go on _dates and they have a lot of fun and go to the cinema together and accidentally by each other the same presents and the kiss and hug and-_

**== > Meulin: Come back to reality.**

You blink, and the image fades away from your mind. You laugh quietly (or you think you do) as you realize that, no matter how uncommon the situation you may be in, some things just never change. You're still the weird girl that ships everything with everything and likes to daydream about romance 24/7. The only difference is that your skin and hair are now different shades of brown, instead of their usual gray and black, and your blood is as red as a Vanta's.

 _And you're lonely._ Right. You momentarily forgot about your not so little problem.

For most of your life, you've always had at least _someone_ at your side. Someone to rely on, someone to talk to. Kurloz, Horuss, you've even spoken to Mituna from time to time! But now... You're alone. You don't know if anyone else remembers sgrub or even sburb! You have no one to talk to, no one to go to, _no one to vent to._ You've become dependant on others to be able to take care of your feelings properly, and you _absolutely HATE it._

What are you going to do now? Bottling up your feelings will only do bad, but you don't know if anyone else remembers The Game. You'll sound like a madwoman if they don't, and you'll also feel even _worse_ then you do right now, for you will (worst came scenario) have confirmation that you're alone in this, and _you'll lose hope and everything will go wrong and-_

_You feel something furry brush against your leg._

You look down in curiosity and see a small black cat staring back at you with pale blue eyes. The cat was rubbing its side against your leg like cats usually do when they want affection. It opened its mouth from time to time, probably meowing.

**== > Meulin: Pick it up.**

You bend down and slowly pick it up, testing the waters, since you never know when a cat might attack. You set it gently on your lap and start petting it between the ears. Although you can't hear it, the soft vibrations coming from its chest showed that it was purring. You smile gently as you continue to pet it. _This isn't so bad..._

As you pet the cat, your mind slowly drifts back to your predicament. Who else would remember? Any of your friends or your dancestors? _Did Nepeta remember?_ Last time _Melaine_ saw her younger sister, Nathalie, was a couple of months ago. Perhaps you should visit soon...

You feel a light tap under your chin. Oh. You were so busy thinking you stopped petting the cat. It is now staring at you again, and you stare back, careful and avoiding looking directly at its eyes. You guess you aren't _completely_ alone. You can still go out to pet cats! Unfortunately, the owner of the apartment building you lived in didn't allow cats. In fact, the only animals allowed in there were small fishes. You doubt you would be able to sneak a cat in, much less take care of it without getting caught.

As you start petting the feline once again, you lift your head and look at the cloudy sky. For the last two and a half days, you haven't really done much other than nurse the headache that came with having Melaine's memories and moping around the house, looking for something to do. Perhaps you should wait for a little bit more until you do anything...

**== > Meulin: Look at the time.**

You glance at your wristwatch. It's almost 5 PM, perhaps it's time to go home? You gently lift the cat and put it next to you, on the bench. You get up and stretch, then start walking back home, making future plans of coming back to this park. Perhaps there were more stray cats around? You walk through the path, the opposite direction from before. You feel something small land on your head, then on your shoulder, and your nose. You stop and look up once again. It was starting to rain, which wasn't very surprising, taking into account the cloudy sky and chilly air. You stand there for a few seconds, just taking it all in. The fresh smell of rain, the atmosphere, the droplets of rainwater falling down on you. It almost feels like there is nothing wrong with the world.

As you start to walk once again, you feel refreshed, as if the rain was washing away all of your troubles. You put your hands into your pockets and smile quietly. _I may be alone, but this won't be the end of me._

Your name is MEULIN LEIJON, and you can get through this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not so sure about what I think about this chapter. I tried my best to make Meulin in character, but I'm not sure how that worked out. I feel like she'd worry a lot about being lonely, and her own feelings too. Please tell me what you think in the comments!


	4. 4 Not So Sw33t Sm3ll.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working sucks, especially when you're surrounded by pricks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to apologise for the late chapter, but this was absolutely HELL to write :"0  
> I had to re-write this chapter several times, and it diverged quite a lot from the outline I had (but in a good way!)
> 
> Our girl here is OOC on purpose. I wanted to make it a bit more interesting by adding a "real personality" since in Homestuck, she's always faking :/
> 
> I'm still not fully satisfied with this chapter, but I don't know what else to do, and it has been postponed for too long.
> 
> Besides, it's the longest chapter yet! Hooraaay!!

_Monday, April 15th_

The machine beeped, signaling that the coffee was ready. A pale hand wrapped around the handle as the woman holding started walking towards her desk.

The office was mostly quiet, with a few murmured conversations here and there. The woman continued her short walk without interruptions, other than a few hardly disguised fearful stares from the newbies who certainly "things" about her. She ignored said stares and entered a cubicle, sitting down on a worn office chair and looking at the computer in front of her. After a tired sigh, she cracked her knuckles and began typing.

She began with the simplest thing. There was a gas leak on the outskirts of the city and the chief editor assigned her to go check it out. Nothing too uncommon other than the gas leak and unhappy citizens. So. Damn. _Boring._

**== >?????? Enter Name.**

Your name is LATULA PYROPE, but for now, you go by LAYLA PYROPE. You were formerly a TEAL-BLOODED troll, but at the moment, you're a REGULAR everyday human... Ok, not so "every day". From your memories as a human, GINGER-HAIR is quite uncommon in some places. You have a variety of interests, mainly your love for SKATEBOARDS, your matesprit MITUNA CAPTOR, and ACTING LIKE EVERYTHING IS FINE, EVEN WHEN IT ISN'T.

You and your friends died in Sgrub, then turned into ghosts, forever wandering through the dreambubbles. You remember being part of the ghost army to defeat Lord English, and then... Nothing. Just... Emptiness. You woke up in a small apartment two days ago, on April 13th, in the human body you were in right now. After exploring your surroundings and trying (and failing) to keep calm about everything, you slowly started to remember your "human" life.

You've been working as a journalist for a newspaper called _"The Paradox"_ for the last four years of your life. While it certainly had its cool moments, it was a mostly boring job, in which you interviewed random uninteresting people on the streets for the sake of having something to write about, or sat on a cheap office chair for the whole afternoon until your back hurt.

Sigh. Why were you one of the older ones? You wish you were a beta troll, just so you wouldn't be old enough to work (or at least, work as hard as you do nowadays). It seems like The Game, when it threw you and the others into this human world, completely changed your ages, and arranged them by _blood color_ of all things. The alpha trolls being adults, and the beta trolls being teens. Damara (or _Mara_ ) is the oldest of the bunch, being 28 years old, and Feferi (or _February_ ) being the youngest, at age 14. You were now 25 years old, being somewhat in the middle of the hemospectrum.

You rub your temples with a grimace. Damnit, you're barely halfway through your shift, now's not the time to have a headache-

"So, Pyrope, how's the family? No more _accidents_ I hope."

Shit, you can feel your headache getting worse. You glance behind and see _him_ , in all his asshole glory, _Williams._

You roll your eyes and go back to typing. In your first day of work, you warned your boss, Mark, about your... _disability..._ And he told the others about it too. In this world, just like your original life, you were born able to smell but lost it because of a head injury that damaged your nerves.

Then, they somehow caught wind of how your sister was also blind because of an accident. From that day forward, you and your family had been seen as "accident prone" and as a newbie, there had been various reactions and opinions about you.

The most prominent and annoying one being...

**== >Latula: Think back to that _amazing_ day.**

_It was a party, a small one, but a party nonetheless. One of the photographers, Alex, just had a baby and the office was coming together to celebrate._

_You had been working on_ The Paradox _for 2 years, and this were doing well, honestly. Better than you thought it would, at least._

 _Back in middle school, the bullies had been merciless, which caused your self-esteem to sink faster than the Titanic. They stopped bothering you after you brought that skateboard and showed them how it's done. For the rest of middle school and most of high school, you kept a "Cool gamer girl" persona, and even managed to make a few friends along the way! Even if they didn't know the true you, it's the thought that counts right? They met_ some _version of Layla/Latula after all._

_When you first started working here, you decided to leave your past behind. Not warning your peers about your anosmia could bring some problems after all, and thankfully, other than mild curiosity, the reactions had been respectful just as you hoped. Another problem you had was some difficulties with changing your persona, after all, you spent more than a decade acting a certain way on purpose, so when the time came to change that and start acting professionally, you kept forgetting that you were in an office, wearing formal clothes, and not in a campus where you wore whatever the hell you wanted and just skateboarded your way into places. During that two year period working as a journalist, you've made acquaintances, friends, and even a few enemies._

_Timothy Williams being in the latter category._

_Your first encounter with him was far from the best, as you bumped on him on a hallway and spilled coffee all over his pale blue shirt. Since then, he's tried his absolute best to make you miserable. From mild things such as passive-aggressive comments to downright insulting your little sister because of her lack of sight. Gog, you hate that guy._

_I-In a COMPLETELY PLATONIC way, okay??_

_Ahem. As you said, it was a party, and all was going well. People seemed happy, there were lots of drinks, food-_

_"Pyrope! We made mystery sandwiches, you have to take a bite and figure out what it is, try it!" Oh._

_**== > Past Latula: It's a challenge, accept it!.**_

_"Oh hell yeah! I bet I can do it only first bite!"_

Asshole. _You clench your fist and look behind you. Williams is smirking, looking at you like a cat would look at a mouse. Of fucking course, he would doubt you. Just. Great._

**== > Past Latula: Get his ass.**

_"Oh? Would you look at that," You said, turning around to fully face him. "Don't worry, Williams, I've long form used to the taste of certain food," You smiled, eyes narrowing on his direction. "I can figure out the ingredients just fine, thank you."_

_He smirked. "I bet I can do it better than you." He walked over to where you were standing. Some people were already pointing and looking at you two. The relationship between you and Williams was like a soap opera in the office, a little interesting story, some tea to spill from time to time. No wonder your peers were interested in the exchange._

_"We'll see about that." You grab one of the sandwiches and give to him, then grabbed one for yourself. You face him directly, standing about a meter away from him._ Showtime.

_"Three, two, one... Now!" One of the men who initially offered you the sandwiches exclaimed, and you and Williams both took a bite of your respective sandwiches, looking on different directions to avoid cheating._

_Let's see, let's see. Had you been anyone else, you certainly wouldn't have guessed it, the taste was strange and foreign. But you're Layla Pyrope, and you've been tasting food like that for most of your life. After a bit of chewing, you could recognize... Ham, cheese, mayo and... Nutella? What the hell?_

_After this confusing but amusing revelation, you turned to the man who still held the plate. "Ham, cheese, mayo and Nutella."_

_Williams looked startled, before glaring at you and swallowing his bite. "Ham, cheese, eggs and Nutella."_

_A few tense seconds passed, and then..._

_"Woah! Pyrope actually got it right!"_

_Cheers erupted around the room, it seems like a crowd had gathered while you weren't looking. People walked up to you and slapped you in the back. Huh, looks like not many people like Williams, not surprising._

_You smiled broadly and looked back at the said jerk. His face was almost red, although you didn't know if it was from embarrassment or anger, maybe both._

**== > Latula: Come back to the present.**

You look up and realize that you've been staring at your desk for a few minutes. What a waste of time. You look at your computer and go back to typing, hopefully, you get this done by today-

You feel a hand in your shoulder as your body jerks to the side. Standing there is Williams, looking down at you with a snarl.

"It isn't very polite to ignore people, you know." He remarked.

Fuck. "I'm not obliged to answer you, now leave me alone or I'll let Mark know how you've been inconveniencing my work."

"Awwn, don't know what to do so you'll tell the superiors, so cute. Newsflash: I'm not afraid of Mark. I write the best fucking articles in this company's history. He won't fire me.

You clench your teeth in anger an annoyance. He's right. As much as you don't want to admit it, he's _one of_ the best writers the newspaper has, and your boss, Mark, most likely wouldn't want to lose him.

"Tch. What do you fucking want." You asked, even though it sounded more like a statement.

He snarled again, seemingly in disgust as he lowered his hand from your shoulder. "Have some fucking respect, you bitch. I'm getting a promotion soon, and you better treat me like the fucking boss I'll soon be, or _you're. Out._

**What.**

He smirks at your dumbfounded expression, then walks away with an air of pride around him. _He's getting promoted??_

.  
.  
.

 _WHO THE FUCK ALLOWED THIS?? Who in their right mind let TIMOTHY WILLIAMS IN CHARGE OF SHIT-_ Wait a minute. You have an _idea_ on who would.

You get up from your desk and speed-walk to Mark's office, desperate for an explanation. You quickly knock on the door, barely waiting for permission to enter as you march into the room, slapping your hands into the table and glaring down at the man you were looking for.

Mark seemed startled- _, of course, he would be, you looked ready to kill the poor guy on the spot-_ before looking at you questionably. "Miss Pyrope, what seems to be the problem...?"

 _"The problem,"_ You hiss. "Is that _someone_ is giving _Williams_ a promotion. And _who_ here has the power to do that...?"

He sighs and covers his eyes with one hand, apparently exasperated. "That..." He pauses momentarily, as if looking for a way to word it. "You see... Mr. Williams has been a formidable asset for us for the past years, and the big wigs thought it was about time he was promoted," He grimaced. "Regardless of behavior." 

You wince, clenching your hands, then flopping down at the chair opposite to Mark. You hunch back and cover your face with your hands, lightly pulling at your fringe.

Just... _fuck._

**== > Hours later.**

You step outside the building, stretching one last time and taking in the sense of freedom from finally being out of that place.

After the revelation and confirmation that Williams was getting promoted, the day passed as a blur. You finished writing about the gas leak, edited it, then sent it to be checked once more. Thankfully, the asshole didn't bother you much other than the promotion thing, but that didn't do much, as you were already feeling like shit.

But for now, your shift was over, and all you have to worry about was catching the bus and getting home. After that, _sweet 7 hours of sleep._

You begin your short walk to the bus station, mind drifting to other, less depressing subjects, such as The Game.

Had it all been an elaborate dream? Did any of that actually happen? Were you ever truly a troll, with grey skin, pointy horns, and teal blood? Did Beforus actually exist? _If any of that was real, why were you here?_

You see some light on the distance, moving away from you. _Is that...?_

It is. _Shit shit shit shit shit shit SHIT._

_YOU MISSED THE FUCKING BUS._

You run, trying to catch up to it, but you know it's useless. _You missed the fucking bus._

You slow down, panting, as the lights get farther and farther away from you. If only you...

_If only you had your skateboard with you._

...Your name is LATULA/LAYLA PYROPE, and if Beforus wasn't a dream, you wish you could go back there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have absolutely NO idea what's it like to work at an office, much less as a journalist, so please pardon any inaccuracies.
> 
> And I REALLY wanted to give a Japanese name to Damara, but I couldn't find one that resembled her original name, so I just went with "Mara". If you have any suggestions, please comment!
> 
> Most of this chapter was written on my phone, so while there may be a few more typos than normal, I tried my best to spell check it.
> 
> My main problem with this chapter was Williams. I wanted to make him a passive-aggressive asshole, and I don't think I did it very well.
> 
> Like I said, I'm not very happy with this chapter :/


	5. Convos And Discoveries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of a mess? I don't know, but I'm in a love-hate relationship with it.
> 
> I kinda got carried away with this chapter, it was supposed to be way smaller, lol.
> 
> I'm not really happy with the final scene, oh well :<
> 
> I'm not going to use their typing quirks in this fic, at least not when there are people who don't know about sgrub/ Alternia around them.
> 
> I'm bad at writing dialogues, sorry for that. :/  
> I'm practicing characterization, not sure how well I did it though.  
> 

_Monday, April 15th. Nighttime._

CG: I swear, one day I'm going to fucking bite one of these assholes.

GA: Mr. Morgan sent you to the principal's office again, didn't he?

CG: FUCK HIM AND FUCK THAT STUPID ASS RULE.  
CG: IF I WANNA CUSS IN CLASS, I WILL FUCKING CUSS IN CLASS.  


GA: I thought you were over your rebellious phase years ago. It seems like I was wrong.

CC: Good evening!

GA: Good evening.

CG: IT'S NOT A FUCKING REBELLIOUS PHASE.  
CG: Besides, I don't even like that bastard. All the more reasons to do whatever the fuck I want in his class.  


GA: ...That's... Not how it works.

CC: I'm thankful he isn't my teacher yet. Everyone talks about how rude he is...

CG: You better. Even his fucking CLASSROOM has an air of doom. Once you enter that shit, it's pure suffering for a whole entire hour and makes you want to bash your head on your fuCKING DESK UNTIL YOU PASS OUT AND DONT HAVE TO WATCH IS FUCKING LECTURE.  
CG: That fucking prick.  


TA: Woah someone's grumpy.

CG: WAHT DO YUO MEAJ GRUMOY??

TA: I called you grumpy, not grumoy

CG: IT WAS A TYPO.

GA: Boys, let's not argue, the week barely started and yet, look at you two.  
GA: February is being more mature than you both. (No offense February, it's just that you're the youngest.)  


CC: None taken, Anya!

CG: Whatever.

TA: By the way, how's that group project going Feb? You're with Adrian right?  
TA: Tough luck.  


CC: Oh please, he's not that bad. You make him seem like the devil himshellf every time you talk about him!  
CC: And the project is doing great, thank you!  


TA: Bruh he might as well BE the devil itself. He's a brat.

GA: I think you made a typo, you wrote "Himshellf" instead of "Himself". 

CC: Oh

CG: Dude that better be an accident  
CG: One more sea pun and I'm throwing all the fishes in your bigass aquarium back into the ocean.  


CC: NO! NOT MY FISHES! D8

TA: Woah dude calm down, it was just a pun  
TA: Weirdly placed pun, but ye.  


GA: Oh Simon, you weren't here when it happened.  
GA: Last week, our little February and Adrian decided to bombard the group chat with sea/water/fish puns. It was both amusing and terrifying.  
GA: If I remember correctly, only Kaden, Victoria, Travis, and I were here too witness the event.  


TA: Oh fuck. Sounds like hell to me

CG: Trust me, it was.

TA: And woah Travis was online?? Damn.

GA: Indeed. Nowadays, he barely speaks on the group chat anymore, but he had some time last week and had to go through all of that.

CG: @CC Why the fuck did you guys do that anyways??

CC: Adrian went to the beach and had the idea.  
CC: I admit, when he does stuff like this, it really disproves the "he's not THAT bad" argument..  


TA: Lmao i told ya.

* * *

GC: Ugh, I'm so freaking tired.  
GC: I missed the bus and had to walk all the way home :(  
GC: Jfc I'm ready to marry the couch.  


TA: Oof get somE sLeEp GiRl-

CT: Yeah, you should get some rest.

GC: Psssh don't worry, I'm used to not having enough hours of sleep :")

CT: ... You've been having late night gaming sessions again.

GC: Me??? Gaming at one in the morning??? I would never

TA: Layla... :(

CT: Sigh. You need to take better care of yourself.

GC: Ngh.

CT: Unrelated, but my brother has been acting weird recently.

TA: Weird how?

CT: This will sound cheesy but... It's like... He's forgotten who he is.

GC: ...What?

TA: Wait what  
TA: Is it like, Alzheimer or something?? Dude.  


CT: No, not like that, thankfully.  
CT: It... Came out of nowhere, actually. Last Saturday, he wouldn't answer when I called him from the bottom of the stairs, at breakfast, he barely ate. The weirdest thing happens when Dad came back. Ethan absolutely FREAKED OUT for no reason! He just froze when he saw dad and ran back to his room.  
CT: He seems to have come back to normal the next day, but sometimes, he'd just stare at nothing for a while, and it was kinda creepy. His eyes looked... Dead.  


TA: Your bro is possessed by a ghost, then.

CT: Silly, ghosts don't exist.  
CT: ...At least... I don't think they do. I REALLY hope they don't.  
CT: Dad's tried to talk to him about it, but he denies everything. It's unsettling.

TA: Hey Layla, you've been quiet for a while, are u still here?

GC: Don't worry, I'm still here.  
GC: And that's some spooky stuff right there, holy crap.  
GC: Hey uhh, I gotta go. Haven't eaten dinner yet and I'm freaking starving over here lol.

TA: Oh fuck go eat

CT: Layla, I already worry about my brother. Don't make me worry about you too.

GC: OoF  
GC: But yeah, byeee, and good luck with Ethan, Howard!

CT: Thank you, and take care.

TA: Bye Lay!! S2S2

* * *

You lean back in your chair, gently pulling a few strands ginger of hair behind your ears. You close your eyes and sigh, shoulders relaxing, but mind running a thousand miles per hour. Did Howard's brother (Ethan, was it? You don't remember his troll name, but you're pretty sure it starts with an E.) remember sGrub? Is that why he was acting strangely? How would you find the answers to these questions without sounding like a maniac?

If your theory was correct, then what would it mean to you? What would you do next? In a world where everything you've ever known is perhaps nothing more than a fairy tale, where extraterrestrial beings are only considered real by the crazy, the madmen, the paranoid, _what would you do if the only person you had by your side is someone you've barely talked to, and doesn't even know the name?_

You sigh again, letting your arms drop to the side. Now's not the time to reflect on this stuff, for you have a tip! A bit of light at the end of the tunnel. If the youngest Zahhak really did remember the game, then you would have proof that Alternia really DID exist, and that it wasn't just an elaborate dream made by the mind of an overworked salary woman.

Your stomach aches and makes a noise. Well, you weren't kidding when you said you didn't eat dinner yet, and you _were_ hungry. But...

You decide that dinner can wait, after all, you've got a theory to prove.

* * *

gnarlyConsolist [GC] started pestering centaursTesticle [CT] at 19:02.

GC: Sup Ethan!  
GC: Ok so this may seem weird, especially since we don't talk much lmao  
GC: I gotta ask you something, and it's gonna sound kinda weird?? uh.  
GC: Anyways yeah, pls anwser as soon as possible, it's kinda urgent.

CT: Sorry for such late anwser, but hello Ms.Pyrope.  
CT: And what would the question be?

GC: Pffft don't worry dude, it's only been a few minutes.  
GC: But yeah, like i said, it's kinde weird.  
GC: Ur bro said that you've been acting weird since last saturday.  


CT: ...If it's about that, don't worry. There's nothing wrong with me. I just had a nightmare and I'm slightly unsettled by it.

GC: Oof it kinda is about that, but don't worry, I just need to confirm something.  
GC: ...Do you remember a game called "Sgrub"? Or a planet called "Alternia"?

CT: ...  
CT: D --> And a species called "Trolls" with different b100d colors.  


GC: Holy sh1t.

CT: D --> Honestly, I'm not even mad at your use of foul language, for I am having a similar reaction.

GC: Dude, you r3m3mb3r th3 g4m3!! 4nd 4lt3rn14!!  
GC: 1'M NOT 4LON3 ON TH1S, H3LL Y34H!!!!

CT: D --> Now you're just typing like Terezi.  
CT: D --> And w001d you please stop using such horrible language.

GC: R1ght, sorry.  
GC: But you know wh4t th1s m34ns? Mor3 p3opl3 m1ght r3m3mb3r sgrub too!  
GC: OMG, wh4t 1f M1tun4 knows?? 444h!  
GC: Dude, 4r3 you st1ll th3r3? H3llo??

CT: D --> I am still here, I just needed some time.  
CT: D --> I thought my sweating problem had been getting better as time passed, but it has come back full force, and at an unconventional place.  


GC: Unconv3nt1on4l pl4c3?  
GC: Oh.  
GC: You'r3... Sw34t1ng... From your 3y3s.  


CT: D --> ...Precisely.  
CT: D --> These last few days had been very stressful. I received new memories but didn't forget the ones I already had. My dancestor did not recall Alternia, or trolls, or anything. I now live with an adult, my ANCESTOR. It is all just so.... strange and chaotic.  
CT: D --> But now... I have you. Just as you said, I won't have to go through all of this alone. I'm... REALLY happy.

GC: Dude...  
GC 1 r34lly w4nt to hug you r1ght now.

CT: D --> I don't think that is possible. We live a few kilometers away.

GC: Oh 1 know, st1ll do3sn't stop m3 from w1sh1ng!  
GC: And my hum4n l1f3 1s 4ctu4lly pr3tty bor1ng >:[  
GC: 1 l1t3r4lly do noth1ng but typ3 4ll d4y long. Som3t1m3s 1 go out 1n th3 str33ts to 1nt3rv13w p3opl3, but oth3r th4n th4t, th4t's pr3tty much 1t. Such 1s th3 l1f3 of 4 journ4l1st.  


CT: D --> Oh, I see. The main adaptation other than turning human and living with an adult, is that now I live in a ranch, and I must do all the work manually, by myself. It feels quite weird, and wrong.  
CT: D --> Usually, I would leave all the dirty work for the l001 b100ds. I cannot do such thing now.

GC: A ranch?? Dude that's rough >:/  
GC: By th3 w4y... 1 know ur hum4n n4m3, but 1 h4v3 no 1d34 wh4t your or1g1n4l n4m3 1s.

CT: D --> Oh my, where are my manners.  
CT: D --> My name is Equius Zahhak. Pleased to meet you.

GC: L4tul4 Pyrop3, Pl34s3d to m33t you too >:]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My geometry teacher made a rule that whoever curses in class will be sent to the principal's office and get a talk about discipline and classroom behavior. It's kind of a stupid/annoying role in my opinion.
> 
> While writing this chapter, I realized that I completely missed the chance to make Horuss's human name "Horace". Fiddlesticks.
> 
> I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to make the ending scene emotional, but I'm still figuring it out. It probably came out bad, and I'm sorry for that.


	6. A Hole In Reality. (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so, it begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late chapter, but this is the most important chapter so far (as well as the longest!) So I really wanted to take my time with it.  
> This is only part one. Originally, it was all supposed to be one single chapter, but if I were to write ALL of it, it would take even LONGER to come out, so I decided to split it :)  
> This is where chapters will take longer to come out, sorry :/  
> BY THE WAY, I won't be using "==>" anymore. Both because I feel like it's easier to just narrate and not put commands, but also because I think it fits introductions chapters more.

_Tuesday, April 16th._

The bell pinged gently as another customer entered the shop. The café was small but beautifully decorated, and with an amazing aroma of hot chocolate, cake, and of course, coffee. Its walls were painted a light beige and were filled with pictures and drawings of different places from all around the world. Up in the ceiling, there were two beautiful medium-sized glass chandeliers, which basked the room in soft light.

It was lunch time, so the café was almost completely full. Surprisingly, there wasn't that much noise, only a few murmurs of conversation here and there, from friends hanging out during their lunch breaks from school, to couples having a nice short date before either -or both- would have to go back to their respective workplaces. You could even see some "lone wolfs" in the back of the café, a cup of their favorite drinks on one hand, a book the other. Regardless of the conversations the people around you were having, you continued your work. After all, it's not like you can hear them anyway.

You calmly walked between birch wood tables and chairs, just as you've done so many times before, and stopped at your destination. A medium frappuccino and a slice of chocolate cake for table 14, where two young girls were sitting and chatting. You set their orders on the table with a polite smile, then walk back to the counter. Since you can't take orders, you deliver the food to the customers, as well as do some cleaning from time to time. Thankfully, your manager was very accepting of your disability and doesn't pay any less than he pays your co-workers.

It has been 3 days since you woke up in this human world, and you still have no idea on how to approach your friends about this particular topic. If you remember correctly, there is a group chat just for your friends, a group chat for your dancestors, and a group chat for the ancestors. Perhaps _there_ would be a good place to start? But what would you say? _"Hey uh so... I'm not actually "Melaine", my actual name is Meulin, I'm not human, and we all played a game that ended up destroying the world, and then we all died. Crazy right?? Anyways, who remembers that??"_ Ugh. Just... imagine what their reaction would be! It's going to be like your furry phase in 6th grade all over again. _Ugh_

In all seriousness though, if you were to tell someone, who would you tell? Kurloz, who before the breakup, you had a good relationship with? Maybe Kankri, who had a good head on his shoulders and would know just what to do(Well, if only he would shut up for a while)? Or even Latula, who under all those layers of fake "cool kid" persona, was one of the most intelligent people you've ever known?

Of course, as you just did in your imaginary scenario, you couldn't just go up to them and start talking about your past life. There was always the chance that they don't remember, and that you're...

Alone on this, keeping your past life to yourself and taking your memories to your grave.

You feel a hand on your shoulder, snapping you from such morbid thought. You look up and see your co-worker, Hannah looking at you and holding a small notebook. Oh, she wants to talk to you. Since most of your peers don't know sign language, and not everyone is good at guessing mimes, you tend to carry around a notebook and pen on your bag or purse. You ended up buying one exclusively to work, so whenever a co-worker wanted to talk to you, they'd just reach under the counter, in the top cabinet, and boom! They are now able to talk to you. Simple, yet useful.

_ Hey Mel, could you take the trash out? Nathan usually does that, but he called in sick, and everyone else is pretty busy. It'll only take a few minutes :) _

Oh. You look around for a moment, and true to Hannah's words, Nathan isn't present today. You rarely -if ever- notice that guy, there's nothing particularly interesting about him that catches your interest, but, as the saying goes, "You don't know what you have until it's gone". Guess that applies to the trash guy too.

You turn back to Hannah and nod. Okay, no problem, you've taken the trash out many times before, and you can do it again today.

You go to the kitchen, where the largest trash can is. While walking, some of the cooks nod at your direction. Even though you've only worked here for about a year, you made friends with most (if not all) of the employees here, even if there were a few communication troubles in the beginning. You're not particularly close to anyone, but they're good company, and you guess that's enough. After putting on some gloves (You can't touch trash, then go touch other people's plates!), you collect three trash bags and start your short walk to the back alley, where the dumpster is.

You open the back door with your back, making sure the contents of the bags you're carrying aren't being shuffled around much, after all, there may be glass inside, and you don't want to end up cutting the bags _-or yourself_ \- with shards. Woah, you've forgotten how heavy these can be. You take a moment to quietly miss that Nathan guy once more. Gently setting the trash bags on the floor, you notice with slight disgust how dirty this whole place is. You know you shouldn't be surprised, after all, this _is_ a back alley with a dumpster. Unlike the inside of the café, this place isn't cleaned regularly, and for that, it is quite common to see rodents and roaches, especially near, inside, or under the large dumpster.

Sigh. Better get to work. You grab one of the bags and carefully lift it up, the fear of having broken glass inside coming back once more. You _slowly_ tip the bag over, _slooooowly..._ Aha! There you go! The thrash bag landed safely inside the near-empty dumpster. Two more to go-

_There is a small spark of pink in the corner of your vision._

Wh... What?

You crane your head to look at the spot where you saw it, whatever it was. It was just... A small spark, like, when you light a match, which was weird, since who would be lighting a match here? You certainly didn't bring anything other than the trash bags with you, and you don't see anyone around either, and there's no smell of smoke or anything, it was just a small, pink, barely noticeable spark. _So how... What...?_

Oh well, must have been a trick off the light. Certainly, nothing to fuss over. You pick up a second bag and-

_There, again. Green._

This time, you almost drop the bag you were holding as your head quickly snaps back to where you saw the spark. _Alright... So._ That _may_ or _may not_ had been a trick of the light... _Just what is going on?_

You carefully set the bag on the floor, hoping it had barely made a sound. You completely turn your body to where the sparks have been appearing, on your right, near the floor. You hesitantly take a step, not sure whether or not this is a good idea, to just investigate weird stuff. In horror movies, when characters see weird or creepy stuff, the one who investigates it instead of going home is usually the first to die. Maybe you should follow the first rule of horror?

_A third spark blinks into existence, this time, a light blue one._

You know what? That's just movie logic. There could be a goddamn portal to Beforus in this brick wall for all you kno-

_A navy blue spark appears, and suddenly, the air feels a lot heavier._

It was as if a switch had been flipped. The atmosphere turned somewhat humid, and you felt your stomach drop with each step you took. Something...

_Something was wrong here. **Very wrong.**_

You stop mid-step, staring at the brick wall in front of you. There's a small buzz of energy in the air, like electricity, but not quite. It was a weird feeling, like none you've ever felt before. It left your hair standing up in is ends, and sent goosebumps on your arms. Your palms were sweaty, your mouth dry. You knew, deep down, that you needed to get away. _Fast._

But you didn't. _You couldn't._ You were frozen of the spot, unable to move, _unable to run._

More sparks appeared. Saturated green. Deep red. Gold. Indigo. Purple. So many colors your brain could barely register them. It looked like a bunch of fireworks, like a small scale explosion, right in front of your eyes. You could feel the wind, strong and coming from the light show merely four feet away from you. Your hair whipped around your face and your eyes started to burn. Just add all seemed to be at is worst, as your legs turned weak and your knees were short from buckling from the pressure _around you-_

It was as if time had stopped. Everything and everyone was still. You open your eyes _-You don't remember closing them-_ and...

_What is that...?_

It... Looks like a spirograph. Round, but made of delicate and confident lines which all intertwined in beautiful, complicated ways. In the center of it, was a rather large hole, and inside it was a Galaxy, with beautiful shades of purple, blue and pink. Filled with stars and full of nebulas. You felt lost, but also... _**At home.**_

For some reason, the sight was... Familiar, as if you've seen it before. Your fight or flight instincts are still screaming at you, but you _need_ to get to the bottom of this. You feel a tug in your heart, in your very **soul-**

_There's something coming out of the portal._

It's... An arm? Yeah, you're pretty sure it is. It's small, and pitch black, but you can recognize the four digits that make up the fingers- _four?_

_**FUSH!** _

Something small and fast darts in your direction, coming _closer and closer **until-**_

_**CHOMP!** _

.  
.  
.

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?? That was literally the _FIRST_ rule of horror movies, and you broke it! Now look at that! There's a fucking IMP biting your ANKLE! THE HORROR MOVIES WERE RIGHT, _THE MOVIES WERE RI-_

_Wait a second. An... Imp?_

There... There is...

_There's an imp biting your ankle. An **imp.**_

_From **Sgrub.**_

You're screaming. You're pretty sure you're screaming. Your mouth is open, and you can feel your throat go sore. It's so loud you can almost feel the vibrations in the air around you. If you go on like this, someone is bound to come. _But you don't care._

There's an imp, with its teeth lodged in your ankle left ankle. _An imp from sgrub._

Finally, after what feels like hours of shaking your leg, but in reality were probably only a few minutes, the imp let go. It fell on the floor on its back, and as it scrambled back up, you took the time to run back to the café.

The other employees looked at you with concern and shock as you ran. You couldn't blame them, considering the state you were running around in. A bloody ankle and overall disheveled appearance is certainly something to be concerned about. You paid them no mind, after all, you needed to get somewhere safe. That was only a single imp, but knowing sgrub, more were to come. _Way more._

Hannah was there, looking at you in confusion. You could see her mouth moving, she was talking, probably asking what the problem was, but you couldn't hear her. Even if you _could_ hear her, you would choose not to. You have other priorities, like hiding. It was somewhat selfish, to only worry about yourself, but your instincts were speaking louder than your head, you could not focus on anything other than _hiding_

__

But... But... Where? Where to go? Where to hide? You needed to find a safe place, somewhere with not many people. A large concentration of people may attract the imps, and that's the last thing you need. Somewhere, _somewhere..._

Your eyes widen as you look over Hannah's shoulder. Of course!

The bathroom!

* * *

centaursTesticle [CT] started pestering gnarlyConsolist [GC] at 13:06.

CT: D --> Good afternoon. Miss Pyrope.

GC: H1 3qu1us!

CT: D --> I hope I'm not interrupting anything...? I have some rather serious matters to discuss.

GC: Oh don't worry dud3, 1'm just h4v1ng lunch (By th3 w4y, you c4n just c4ll m3 L3tul4 >:) )  
GC: So... wh4t 1s 1t?

CT: D --> Oh, alright.  
CT: D --> As you have probably guessed (And thought of), there is a posssibility that we aren't the only ones to remember our past lives.  
CT: D --> But how will we find them? Well, I've already thought of ways to do this, and I want to hear your opinion on it.

GC: Ooooh th4t's n1c3!  
GC: W3ll, show m3 wh4t you got!

CT: D --> The most obvious approach would be to subtly drop hints, and see their reactions.  
CT: D --> I, for one, already know that my brother does not remember. That was made clear on the first day of this madness.  
CT: D --> Another factor to be taken in account is that my house is quite ways from the city. I reckon you'd have better chances with more people around you.

GC: W3ll, th4t's 4 n1c3 pl4n, you thought of pr3tty much 3v3ryth1ng >:)  
GC: 4nd wh4t would th3 oth3r 4lt3rn4t1v3 b3?

CT: D --> I, uh, was actually planning on using it as a last resort. If nothing else works, perhaps we could just outright ask them?  
CT: D --> To be honest, the only reason why we haven't done that already is to avoid embarrassment and the awkwardness that would result if no one else knows what we are talking about.

GC: Lm4o tru3  
GC: 4ctu4lly, 1 th1nk th4t 1f 1 s4y 4nyth1ng th4t h4s to do w1th w31rd crypt1d g4m3s or som3th1ng, no doubt M1tun4 would b3 1nt3r3st3d. 1f h3 do3sn't r3m3mb3r, th4t could b3 4 s3r1ous probl3m.  
GC: H3's stubborn. H3'll try to f1nd mor3 4bout sgrub. 1 don't w4nt h1m to b3 mor3 1nvolv3d th4n n33d3d.  
GC: 1'm sur3 you 4nd 1 sh4r3 th3 s4m3 s3nt1m3nt. You m3nt1on3d som3th1ng 4bout 4 mo1r41l l4st n1ght?

CT: D --> Yes.  
CT: D --> I won't involve Nepeta in this either.

GC: So... Pl4n 4?

CT: D --> Yes, plan A.  
CT: D --> When shall we begin, Latula?  
CT: D --> Latula? You haven't answered in quite a while. Is everything alright?  
CT: D --> Miss Pyrope? Are you still there?

GC: fuvk

CT: D --> What's going on?? Are you alright?

GC: Somegejng happeynig  
GC: I eed tohie

CT: D --> What's happening?  
CT: D --> You... You droppend your typing quirk.  
CT: D --> Please anwser once you're safe.  
CT: D --> Please.  
CT: D --> Don't die on me.

* * *

Running. Screaming. Chaos. Those words best described the scene in Thompson Barton St.

In the span of a few minutes, a perfectly normal day turned into complete disarray. In a moment, people were walking back to their respective workplaces or school campus, in the other, frantic screams could be heard as people toppled over one another, running in all directions in an attempt to get away from _them._

Coming from a dark alley between two buildings, were jet-black creatures, most of which could barely reach an adult's knees. Some of those creatures, however, were huge, with large and pointy tusks coming out of their mouths. On the walls, there were serpent-like beasts, with four legs and a large forked tongue. Some of these mysterious hostile creatures had horse-like features, others with two mouths, and most amazingly, some even had bat-like wings.

Amongst the crowd of panicking people, there was a tall ginger-haired woman. She ran in the opposite direction of the imps, passing through crying children, people calling the authorities and even some brave ones who ran in the directions of the beasts to fight back. The woman's eyes scanned the surrounding area, desperate for a place to hide so that she could answer the frantic buzzing on her phone.

She briefly looked back, taking a good look at the beasts chasing the crowd. Her eyes widened as one of the creatures on the wall- _No, it can't be. The game ended. We won. So why is there a Basilisk here?-_ snatched a young girl off the ground and to its mouth. An adult woman, presumably the girl's mother, screamed alongside the people near her. As the woman wailed in horror of seeing her daughter be eaten by a monster, parents nearby hugged their children close in fear of them having the same fate as the poor girl. 

The ginger-haired woman turned back and stared ahead of her once more, newfound determination running through her veins to escape.

Latula "Layla" Pyrope may not know what the hell is going on, but like hell she is going to let herself get caught by these puny old enemies.

* * *

In a certain cafe's bathroom, crying could be heard coming from the last stall. Even though you tried your best to be quiet, some sobs managed to find their way out of your mouth. You were sitting in a fetal position in the toilet, with your head between your arms and your eyes closed shut.

After a brief pushing match with Hannah, you managed to run to the bathroom and hide in the stall farthest from the door, and now you... don't really know what to do. You were half tempted to just wait here for hours until the sun had set and silently wander out of the stall, but you knew that just wouldn't do. There was an imp out there, and soon, more would come. Your ankle ached from the bite, bright red _~~not olive. This is wrong-~~_ blood slowly oozed out of the wound, dripping to the toilet lid and floor, staining your sock and shoe. You need to get that wound treated soon, or it might get infected. Not only that but what were the imps outside doing? What if there weren't _only_ imps, but Underlings in general?

The thought made you shudder. Back in sgrub, you had weapons, some of which you alchemized yourself, some of which you brought with you when you entered the game, like your beloved brass knuckles with pointy claws. When you god-tiered after you died, you became a mage of heart, and although your powers were more emotion-based, it seemed like god-tiering had its owns... perks. You remember being stronger than before, with faster reflexes and just... Overall _stronger._ Here on Earth, however, you were just a human. No weapons, no god-tier powers, _nothing._

_Just like the people out there._

The thought just made your consciousness even heavier. You ran away, without warning anyone about the imps and leaving them defenseless and clueless about what was happening. Imps are low leveled, and easy enough to deal with, but what about basilisks? Ogres? 

You clutch your head even tighter, more tears forming in your eyes. You wish...

_You wish you could fight back._

You know how to defeat these enemies. You've _already_ defeated them. You've fought worse enemies, you were in the ghost army to fight against Lord English! And yet... Here you were. Crying in a bathroom stall because you were bitten by an imp, with no way to fight back-

_You feel a tug on your heart. ___

_It felt... Like when that otherworldly spirograph opened. A pull in your heart, your very self, your **soul.**_

You slowly open your eyes, and your hands cautiously move to your chest. There is a magenta glow in the stall, coming from **you.**

You look down and see... A small pink light coming from your chest. Your hand subconsciously wrap and it, and your lips slightly part. You can feel your muscles relax, all the built-up tension from your shoulders slowly dissolving. _What is this?_

The tug is now stronger, almost like a harsh pull. You close your eyes and let yourself be controlled by the pull. You're numb to the world around you, but oh so _aware_ of what's happening in your chest, in your body, in _you._

_And then, the world exploded into colors._

It felt _amazing,_ like coming home after months of being away, or meeting a friend you haven't seen in years. You felt light as if you were floating in nothing. You felt happy, satisfied, although you couldn't even begin to comprehend why. It felt familiar. **It felt like you were complete again.**

_You feel **Heart** gently pulsing inside your chest, following the rhythm of your own heartbeat._

As the light show faded out, you felt _capable,_ you felt as if you could take in a hundred Lord Englishes at the same time without breaking a sweat. You felt _powerful._

You shift around, feeling fabric that wasn't here before me seconds ago. It was comfortable, like you've wore it dozens _-maybe thousands-_ of times before. You felt _ecstatic,_ it all felt so _good._

You looked down and _oh my god._

Is that...?

.  
.  
.

Oh.

But... How...? You...

.  
.  
.

Your name is Meulin "Melaine" Leijon, and you just God-tiered in the very last stall of a cafés bathroom.

* * *

Back in the streets, the chaos continued. After that young girl was eaten by the basilisk, the other creatures continued to attack people with even more vigor, from the flying beasts sneaking behind humans and taking them to the skies, to the giant ones breaking store facades and destroying everything in their path. By now, most of the people had run away, even as the monsters chased them down the streets. Others, however, decided to hide inside buildings and places they hoped were safe enough.

Inside a small antique store, a small group of people huddled together under a table. The 5 adults looked at each other in the hope that one of them knew what to do. The young boy between the adults was held tightly by his parents, who were unfortunate enough to watch the little girl get snatched by that monster on the wall a few minutes ago. When the attack happened, the few people inside the store ducked under the table for protection, and some people outside came in looking for a place to hide.

Everyone was tense, hoping for the best and unprepared for the worst. Waiting for the screams outside to end so they would be able to get out-

_The glass door shattered as a large beast came barreling into the store._

Everyone stiffened. As everyone did their best to stay as still as possible and quiet their breathing, the monster walked around the store, its large shoulders hunched to fit inside the room and narrowed eyes darting in all directions, looking for movement, sniffing around in search of humans to pray on.

Oil steadily dripped from the creature's mouths, some of it sliding over to its large tusks. When the creature walked, its footsteps shook the floor and scattered the small shards of glass from the broken door. When it breathed, it was more of a loud panting, with huffs of air coming from its nostrils and upper mouth.

The humans under the table were completely still, barely daring to breathe as the monster shuffled around the room. The young boy in his parent's grasp had his eyes wide, not even blinking afraid that the creature would hurt them if the took his eyes off its feet. However, as the boy watched the monster, his hand slowly and subconsciously inched towards a glass shard, closer and closer until-

_"Ah!"_

Six heads turned in the boy's direction, one of which belonged to the monster looking for them. As one of the older men turned to glare at the boy, _the table was suddenly lifted from above them._

The humans stared in absolute horror as the hulking creature held the table above its head, glaring down at them with small white eyes filled with glee and two twisted mouths _smiled_ at their terror.

The boy screamed, as did the others. The beast threw the table to the other side of the room and growled at them, its large hands reaching for the humans. He swiftly grabbed the boy's ankle, lifting him up as he screamed and the others scattered. The boy's father jumped, hoping to grasp his son once again, but failing due to the monster's incredible height and built.

The creature's opened its lower mouth wide, needle-sharp teeth glistening it the store's artificial mouth _and-_

_It roared._

The beast dropped the boy, taking both of its hands to its back and screaming an unholy screech which made the human's ears ring. When it dropped on all fours and started shaking its body left and right to get rid of whatever was causing pain to it, the people in the store were able to get a good look at the figure on the monster's shoulders.

Crouched in the hulking monster's back was what appeared to be a woman. She was wearing strange dark pink clothes, most noticeably a dark pink shirt with an upside-down V cut in its borders which had a half-full heart symbol in it. The upper part of her face was covered by a hood which extended into a cape with seemed ragged at first, but as the people stared at it, they realized it was just the design. The woman's green boots supported her as she gripped the monster's shoulder harder, brass knuckles with small but sharp claws at the end digging into its back, where she first struck it.

With a mighty heft, the beast managed to get up once again, roaring loudly once more. The woman jumped over its shoulders and struck its eyes with her fists, making the creature cry out in pain and blinding it. She landed on the floor, brought her left leg behind her and bent over. With an extremely strong kick to the monster's middle, it bent over on the floor once again. At last, she stomped on its head, cracking it and making it leave a small dent on the porcelain tiles. 

The cracks expanded over to the rest of the monster's body, and when it covered it almost completely, its body _exploded,_ leaving behind small bits of hexagon-shaped materials of the colors blue and purple. The woman crouched, and as her fingers touched the material, it disappeared as if it was never there to begin with

As she rose up, the people began to come back to their senses. The little boy immediately ran to his parents, who hugged him back with vigor, tears coming out of their eyes. The other adults slowly got up, trembling slightly over what just happened and staring at the mysterious woman dressed in magenta. She stared back for a few seconds, before jerking her head to the side, where the glass door once was. After one last look at them, the woman started to walk away, green boots gently kicking some glass shards in her path.

At last, when the woman was at the door, one of the people she had just saved came forward.

"Wait! Who are you?! How-"

That, unbeknownst to the others, went unheard by the hooded heroine as she ran out of the store and into the monster-infested streets.

* * *

You've missed this feeling. The ecstasy, the adrenaline running through your veins, your cape whipping behind you as fly. Punching your enemies and seeing them crumble under your clawed brass knuckles. Seeing underlings explode in grist after they are defeated.

It's been a few days since your last battle, yet it feels like an eternity.

You're not dead, you're not fighting in an army against an all-powerful Lord. It's just you, the underlings, and your weapon.

You laugh out loud as you smash a basilisk into the ground. The ogre in that antique store really got things running, and with the number of underlings you see, you're not stopping anytime soon. You collect the grist the underlings dropped, a small smile on your face. Hell, you can't even feel your ankle hurt anymore! Perhaps it has healed?

You land back on the street pavement and move your ankle around a bit. Yup! It doesn't hurt anymore! Hooraay!

Anyways, back into business-

_**Heart** says there is a familiar soul behind you._

Your head jerks back, looking at the sky, where you just felt the soul. There, in all her green God-tier glory, stabbing flying basilisks with an elegant white and red rapier, was _Latula Pyrope._

Hell.

Fucking.

_Yes._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to make the underlings a larger threat, but the imps will be pretty harmless (even if Meulin was hurt by one in the beginning)  
> This chapter was written entirely on Meulin's POV, which means that whatever isn't in her POV will be on be written on 3rd person.  
> I tried making this chapter seem more dramatic, and although it could have been better (OoF I oughta get better at pacing, it feels too fast-paced, and I'm certain I could have put more attention to that last part when Meulin sees Latula), I'm quite satisfied with it.  
> 


	7. A Hole In Reality.(Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AW HELL YEAH! 9K+ WORDS, WHOOHOO  
> I headcannon that most kinds of physical affection are considered pale/flush in Alternia, and hugs are exclusively dedicated to moirails :)  
> Sign language will appear as olive green for Meulin and purple for Kurloz.  
> Happy (late) 612!  
> Also! I tried to incorporate an aspect of Feferi's personality that many seem to forget: She can be quite condescending sometimes!

_Tuesday, April 16th._

Holy shit, this is AWESOME!

YOU STILL HAVE GOD TIER POWERS! _FUCK YEAH!_

A few minutes ago, you had managed to part from the crowd, avoiding underlings as you went. It literally came as a surprise, in the form of a lich jumping in front of you when you turned a corner. The retaliation was more of a reflex, as you made a swinging motion with your hand and your trusty rapier materialized in your grasp. In a few seconds, there was grist on the floor, a badass cape floating in the gentle wind behind you, and an _oh so familiar_ buzz in the back of your head, in which you came to realize was **Mind** , making its presence known in your brain.

And so, there you were, whooping some Underling ass as you walked _\- Or rather, flew-_ around the city. Luckily, the Underlings didn't seem to have wandered around much, staying in close groups (could they be considered packs?) and only walking away when chasing humans. Because of that, all you had to do was find large concentrations of humans (which were easily localized by the screams and police sirens) or just walk around, looking for the telltale signs of an ogre's grunting, an imp's rapid chittering, or even a basilisk's hissing.

Anyways, look at how much grist you already have! Oh, you're going to have so much fun making kickass weapons with these. If you find an alchimiter, that is.

When thinking of ways to acquire an alchimiter, you are suddenly reminded of Equius. Does he also have powers? If so, he would be a Void Player, just like Horuss right? You wonder which class he would be.

You ponder on this while slicing a winged basilisk up. Would he be a knight, just like you? He seemed kinda knight-ly... Maybe he was a seer! He seemed clever, from the few chats you had with him- _Is that... Laughing...?_

Who... Who would be laughing at a time like this? Bro, this might as well be the end of the word for humans, they don't know shit about sgrub or what's happening so why...?

You peer down, and on the street is a familiar sight which pulls at your heartstrings. There, in her magenta pink God-Tier outfit, is _Meulin Leijon,_ laughing and swinging her arm around, trying to get your attention. When you looked at her, she perked up, and you could almost see her face light up under her hood. She flew up, floating with her knees slightly bent a few meters away from you.

Her left hand touched her chin, then laid gently on her right hand, both palms facing up. She then made a V sign with her left hand and touched her middle finger on the corner of her left eye, then brought her hand forward. Next, she put her right palm facing up once more and brought her left fingers to gently tap said palm, making sorta like a 'dip' sign. Lastly, she took her two index fingers and intertwined them together twice.

_"Good to see you again, friend!"_

Aww, sweet! You sign back at her, just as excitedly. Oh my gog, you and Equius are not the only ones! There are others just like you two! Who else remembers? More of your friends? More from Equius's session? Agh, you can worry about all of that later! All that matters now is that Meulin is here, _and she deserves a BIG HUG!!_

You quickly fly near Meulin, catching her off guard as you wrap your arms around her torso, twirling a bit in the air as both of you laugh. Normally, you would be embarrassed at such pale act. You and Meulin aren't moirails, you shouldn't be _hugging._

But you don't care. All that matters is that there's someone here, someone you know. Someone that remembers the game and someone who _understands._

You pull back, a small smile on your face and a giddy feeling in your chest as Meulin beams at you, giggles escaping her mouth and the-

The screams continue in the distance. Right... As exciting this new discovery is, you really should focus on saving people. You nod your head towards a small group of imps running in the distance, silently prompting her to join you with fighting. Squinting your eyes, you can kinda see a grin under the magenta hood as she nods her head up and down.

 _Alright,_ you think as you ready your sword and look back at the imps. _It's badassery time._

* * *

You stared at the TV in the living room, your eyes wide in disbelief and mouth open in shock.

Your ancest-... _Father..._ was sitting on the couch in front of you, his eyes glued to the TV and a small but somewhat noticeable furrow on his brows as he fiddled with his hands and listened to every world the news reporter said. Your brother was there too, leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen entrance, his arms crossed and lips pursed.

You still haven't gotten used to the presence of an adult in your house, which was understandable, considering the adult was the human version of _E%ecutor Darkleer_ himself. Human or not, the man was downright scary, even if he didn't mean it. You've known this man, _"Horace Zahhak"_ for your whole human life, but with your memories of sgrub and Alternia, interactions with him became more and more difficult.

The man cared about his children, that was obvious from the gentle touches and tone of voice. The way he taught his sons to milk the cows and tend to the pigs with smiles and sympathetic eyes when a mistake was made. The way he looked at both Howard and Ethan as they built masterpieces from scraps of metal, a talent they had both inherited from their father.

You could see how much Horace Zahhak loved his sons. But the age-old of instincts of _adults are dangerous, stay away_ wouldn't go overnight, even with wonderful memories of a human life with kind smiles and bear hugs.

But you digress. Coming back to the problem at hand, there are underlings attacking the nearest big city. Yup. That's right. Underlings. From the game that was supposedly over.

How? You have no idea. All that you know of that there are imps, basilisks, ogres and such in there, and they're causing major property damage _-and maybe even murdering people?-_ in the nearest city.

The city where Latula lives.

While it _did_ explain why she suddenly left the conversations in such hurry and desperation, the knowledge of what's happening near her did nothing to quell your worries. If anything, it made you sweat _more._ She's in danger, both of you know that.

Yesterday, when Latula contacted you for the first time, you were ecstatic. There was someone else who remembered the game, even if it was someone rather unexpected. The highblood in you was quite pleased to know you had a teal blood to accompany you in this world, and a clever one too. After a brief cr- uh... _Sweating through the eyes_ moment, you recomposed yourself and proper introductions were made. Everything was fine _-great, even!-_ and although the future looked fuzzy, things weren't so bad.

But a few minutes ago, Latula disconnected and you had no clue on what was happening to her. Then, your father called you and your brother downstairs to watch something on the TV, and while you weren't really in the mood for it, there was an urgent edge to his voice. Whatever it was, it made him feel uneasy.

You came down expecting news about some disaster on another side of the world, maybe a tragedy that happened nearby.

You weren't expecting shaky footage of basilisks crawling on walls or imps jumping around, all over the place.

There was even a brave (or foolish?) man who tried to fight back with a baseball bat. He half succeeded, leaving a slight crack in the imp's head which oozed light. It scared the imp enough to make it run away.

The news anchor had his brows furrowed, a small drop of sweat forming in his forehead _\- honestly? Relatable.-_ as he talked about the situation, stuttering and stumbling over his words as he tried to think of something to say and waited for more information. The shaky videos were still playing in a corner of the screen, alternating between actual videos, pictures, and even social media posts as people reacted to it and uploaded more stuff about the "attack", as people started calling it.

"What the..."

Finally, after various minutes of silence between the three of you, the only sound in the living room coming from the TV, your brother spoke. Your father sighed, then leaned back on the couch, lifting his rectangle-shaped glassed for a brief moment to rub the spot between his eyes. "Indeed. Guess the apocalypse _is_ nearer than we thought after all. Old man Tony was right."

Ah, Mr. Tony. A nice, if not a tad paranoid man that lived near your house, and was pretty much the only neighbor you had for a few miles. He was the kind of man to cast doubt in everything that was considered common knowledge (something you could appreciate, being a Void Player and all) but the man could sometimes get quite... extreme.

The reason why he lives alone in a small hidden house out in the middle of nowhere was because of the aforementioned paranoia. He is rather headstrong in his beliefs and an enthusiastic conspiracy theorizer. The things he comes up with scared you as a child (not that you would admit it, but some of the horror stories from Area 51 still scare you as a teenager) and you tend to hide away in your house whenever he comes to the ranch to buy food. Mr. Tony believes that large products chains are working together, using the money they receive to something _other_ than creating new stores or improving the current ones, and his theory includes supermarket chains. Because of that, he always comes to your father to buy food, the wheat, milk, and meat that is produced in your ranch/farm is "safe" enough for the man, and your father wouldn't deny a customer his services.

Back to the topic at hand, you remain silent as both Zahhaks go back to watching the TV. The news anchor seems to have re-organized himself and is now talking, and the three of you listen attentively.

 _"It's been half an hour since the attack started, and authorities had finally arrived at the scene-"_ The image changes to police cars and men in military outfits on the streets, shooting at the underlings but barely hurting the bigger creatures, whilst making the smaller ones run away. _"-Although attempts to subdue the threats had had varying results, they continue to shoot at them. We still have no idea what these monsters are, and what their weaknesses may be but- WOAH! What is that?! Tell the cameramen to zoom in the sky, I saw something- THERE!"_

The camera zoomed in where the anchor asked him to, and at that moment, hundreds of thousands of people watched as a marvelous sight appeared on the TV.

Floating in the sky was a woman, her face covered by a dark green hood which extended into a cape that reached the ankles. She was wearing a green shirt with another one underneath, and which had a strange symbol on her chest. The symbol consisted of a circle with three "tails" coming out of it. Her pants were plain, the color a more saturated green than the shirt, and small pink boots.

The camera focused on her as she slew the flying basilisks with a sophisticated rapier, the handle shaped vaguely like a dragon's head with glowing red eyes. She jumped around, never stopping even as people stopped and gawked at her otherworldly performance. She worked efficiently, slashing through the creatures' chest and cutting their heads off clean.

 _"What... Who is that...? Are you kidding me? A superheroine?"_ The man laughed. _"This... Is this even real life anymore?_ The news anchor babbled on, disbelief in his voice. _"Uh... Please zoom out a bit, we need to see the bigger picture- Another one?!?"_ Just as the words came out of his mouth, another woman appeared. This one was wearing dark pink clothes and had a half-full Heart symbol in her chest. She seemed to fight with her bare fists, but a second glance revealed that she had brass knuckles on, and was punching underlings ruthlessly with it. Both women danced between monsters, and every time a fatal hit was dealt, said monsters exploded with gem-like objects, which disappeared when touched.

One basilisk was getting particularly close to the military personnel, which caused them to fire at it. While it did seem to inconvenience the basilisk, it didn't slow down and continued to slither closer to the humans. However, the sound of guns alerted the green heroine, and she turned to look at the scene. Her shoulders tensed, and her grip on her rapier tightened just enough to be seen from such distance.

 _"Oh! It seems one of the flying women noticed a threat! Is she going to defend them or-"_ In the blink of an eye, the heroine was behind the basilisk, her arms raised and clutching the rapier with both hands, her mouth somewhat visible under her hood, lips pulled back in a snarl. And then-

**_SLASH!_ **

The monster was gone. In its place, there were the mysterious objects the heroines were collecting, but in the middle of hexagon-shaped crystals there was... _A kid...?_

Yes, it was... It was a little girl. The camera focused on the body of the child, and you could hear your brother lightly gasp behind you, and your father's shoulders tensed at the horrible sight.

The small blonde girl was covered in burns, especially around her legs, and had bruises littered around her whole small body. There were bite marks on her torso, the most prominent one being near her jugular, and scratches everywhere, a particularly large one on her left cheek. She appeared to be unconscious _-thank god, undone on how much pain she would be in had she been conscious?-_

It was a sad sight, but also the perfect _excuse._

"I... I need to go to the bathroom..." You said, voice shaky and a small tremble on your lip. You were worried about the girl, of course you were, but you were also _excited._ These were **sgrub** players, and Latula was a Mind player like Terezi, wasn't she? Maybe the Mind Player you saw on TV was _Latula herself,_ fighting the underlings. Maybe that was why she was taking so long to answer.

And that Heart Player... It couldn't be Nepeta, she was a _rogue,_ not a _mage._ Maybe she was Nepeta's dancestor? You don't recall formally meeting her, but you do remember seeing her around in the dreambubbles. She had long hair and a sweater right? Heck, you can't even remember what her name was... Way to go Equius.

"Go ahead, we won't interrupt you." For the first time since the broadcasting started, your father took his eyes away from the TV. He looked at you, his eyes full of understanding. The scene on TV has certainly made a few of the younger folks feel sick, he could understand if you didn't feel well either.

You nodded, then walked upstairs with haste, having to hold yourself back from outright running. You speed-walked up the stairs and into the bathroom, locking the door behind you.

As you close the bathroom door, you feel a rush of _something_ in your whole body, a feeling under your skin and behind your eyelids. Your hands tremble, still clutching the doorknob and you feel the air leave your lungs.

_In the next moment, you feel completely weightless._

It was as if all your senses had stopped working. You couldn't feel anything. You couldn't hear anything. In every direction you looked, there was pure, unadulterated _**emptiness**_ , that's when you knew.

_Void was here, and it was calling you, urging you closer and **closer.**_

_Who are you to decline such offer?_

Just as quick as it came, the marvelous feeling went. **Void's** work was efficient and to the point. The emptiness inside your chest felt incredibly _full,_ as strange that may be. Your Heir hood, which was longer than your whole body, floated around you inside the bathroom, not touching anything, barely making its presence known, and if you weren't looking at it right now, there'd be no way of knowing it even was here.

You're grinning like a loon now, looking down on your body through your glasses and feeling around for a bit. You haven't used your God-Tier powers much while in the dreambubbles, but you guess being dead kinda numbs the feeling of having that much _power_ running through you. It feels _good,_ better than you remembered.

Smiling, you reach into your Void powers, and you can steadily feel your body dissolve into _nothing,_ but at the same, into _so much._

You close your eyes, and when you open them, you're in the middle of a street, cerulean imps scuttering like demented roaches in your left, and the Mind Player _-Latula-_ fighting meters ahead of you.

You clench your clawed hand and turn back to punch an ogre nearby. The monster dissolves into grist upon impact.

* * *

Is "What the actual glubbing glub" an emotion? Because you're pretty sure you're feeling it right now.

You and your fellow students were stuck in the gymnasium of the school, waiting until the police and the principal allowed you all to leave. Although the monsters _-underlings-_ haven't gotten to your school yet, there was still a chance, and so every single student in the main building was sent to either gymnasium A or B.

At first, everyone thought it was some terrorist attack _-or worse, a school shooting. You've only seen those on TV-_ but as time passed, people took out their phones to check the news and _there they were._

Colorful monsters of various sizes and shapes crawling through the city. It was like something out of a cartoon or comic book. At first, no one believed it, thinking it was some sort of joke or fake article, but as more and more websites reported it, as more and more videos were uploaded onto YouTube and Twitter, everyone came to realize that _yes,_ there were cartoon monsters crawling through the city and _yes,_ there were superheroes fighting said monsters.

Cod, you could almost _smell_ the sweat, Cheetos and... You shudder, _body axe spray_ coming from the geek club clique, and they were sitting in _the other side of the gymnasium._

Thank cod ~~Eridan~~ Adrian never went through that phase. You'd rather not have to smell that unholy stuff every time you go talk to your childhood friend.

_(That's a lie, but young February doesn't need to know that. Adrian's dad caught him when he was about to leave the house smelling like a middle school boy's locker room AKA axe body spray and made him take another bath before going to school. His brother, Cro, thought it was hilarious.)_

Speaking of Adrian, he's sitting next to you, fiddling with his rings (something he does when he's anxious) and scrolling through social media, trying to get a better grasp on the situation outside the school. He's not the only one, and everywhere you look you see a similar sight. Anxious kids scrolling through the news on their phones or talking excitedly with each other about the new heroines.

 _And hero,_ you mentally add. About ten minutes ago, a new hero arrived, this time a boy, and by the looks of it, he was younger than the other two.

You knew him. And you had a suspicion on who the other two were.

You wanted to help them, show them that _Hey! I remember! Equius! Ms.Pyrope and Ms.Leijon! I'm right here!_

You couldn't. Why? Because there was _not a single place_ in this whole gymnasium that you could hide in and go God-Tier. Heck, not even bathroom passes were allowed!

When you first saw who you suspected was Terezi's dancestor on your phone in a twitter post, you freaked out almost as badly as your first day in this human world. There was a **sgrub** player, and you remember seeing that God-Tier classpect in the dreambubbles as Terezi's dancestor, then _Nepeta's_ dancestor appeared, and now Equius! You _need_ to go out there! Not only to help in the fight, but also talk to them!

Besides, wasn't there a little girl who was almost killed by a basilisk? You saw her body when Adrian showed you the picture through his phone. You could _save her._ That little girl could _die_ because of her wounds and you would be just sitting on a gymnasium floor, hanging around and doing absolutely _nothing._ You had Life power's for cod's sake!

You need to sneak out.

You scan over the gymnasium for a way out. All the entrances are being watched by teachers and staff. The windows were out of option unless you wanted to cause a scene. The vents were-

_Wait a second._

The vents. sure, it was dangerous, and you could get caught and the consequences would be horrible, but for now, that's all you had. Now, To find a safe and unguarded vent...

You get up and Adrian looks at you curiously. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna look for something, don't worry! I'll be back." You answered with a small smile.

He paused for a moment, violet eyes searching your fuchsia ones. He looked like he wanted to say something, with the way his lips parted slightly and he turned his head to properly look at you. At last, he sighed, shrugged and turned back to his phone "Whatever. Just don't take long."

You beam back at him, then start to walk around the gymnasium. You head straight to the walls, looking down to see if you could find any vent openings, but after minutes of searching, you couldn't find any. At this rate, the battle will be over when you get out of the building! Are there seriously no vents in here-

A metal glint catches your eye as you move your head. Looking down on your right, you see the telltale signs of a hole on the wall, with metal grids partially covering the darkness inside the wall. _Yes._

Just as you crouch to open the vent, a thought crosses your mind. Once again, you wonder about the consequences of someone catching you. You look over your shoulder and at the teachers in each side of the room, no doubt they would see you of your just unscrewed the grid off the wall.

Sigh. Ten minutes wasted for nothing-

"Feb! Didn't see you there sis"

Startled, you turn around quickly and come face to face with an incredibly tall and incredibly _thin_ torso. Gabriel (This world's Gamzee) always greeted people with hugs. _Always._

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. February loves hugs, especially Gabriel's hugs! They're always so comfy and warm.

But you're not February. ~~Only partially.~~ You're Feferi. You're a ~~former~~ troll, and you don't give hugs ~~anymore.~~

You wriggle in his grasp, and although a small part of you feels bad for cutting the hug short, your inner troll (and the part of you aware that time is ticking) make you want to put some space between the two of you. At last, you two part and you adjust your school uniform slightly before grinning up at him.

"Gabriel! Nice to see you!"

"Hell yeah sis. Where the fuck's Adrian? You two are usually glued at the hip" He inquired, looking around and trying to spot your friend.

"Oh! He's right there-" you pointed at where you were sitting a few minutes ago, Adrian was still there, fiddling with his phone. "-I was just looking for something... But I don't think I need it anymore." You sigh.

He glanced at the direction which you pointed, then looked back at you. "Aw, sis... Sorry 'bout that," Now he looked upset too. "Is there anything I can do to help? I know it probably ain't much but... I already owe you one so..."

Oh, right. Last summer, you helped him sneak out at night to... Do something. You don't know what it was, and he won't tell you. The only reason he called you for that was that you lived nearby and Adrian was busy. He's been owning you a favor since.

You sigh. "Sorry Gabe, but I don't think there's much you can do-" you stop.

But what if...

"Actually..." You look up at him, an impish smile on your face. "There _is_ something you can do..."

He leans in, and he looks almost comical, with how tall he is but how childish he can be, the expression on his face as if you were about to tell him some sort of state secret that no one knew.

"I need you to..." A dramatic pause, just for a bit of effect.

_"... Distract the teachers away from where we are right now._

He blinks, the look on his face changing from a serious but curious one to mildly confused. "But why-"

"Please," You whisper. "Don't ask, it'll be like last time. I won't ask, and we'll never talk about it again. Just know that it's important."

He stiffens slightly, breaking eye contact with you, then laughs and look at you in the eye once more. "Ya know if ya need anything, we'll always be here right? Like, me, Adrian, and pretty much everyone and stuff."

"... Don't worry, it's important, but I can do it on my own" It wasn't the truth, but you couldn't tell him that, right?

Regardless, Gabriel seemed satisfied with your answer. He turned away from you. "If you say so,"

"Don't worry sis, I got just what you need." He grinned.

* * *

Of course. That's _Gabriel Makara_ we're talking about. The human equivalent of _Gamzee Makara._

Of course he had a fuckload of horns hidden in his backpack. _Of course._

But you digress, Gabriel may be weird from time to time, but he created a distraction and you were able to sneak into the vents, that's all you wanted and it's not like you're complaining.

You've never been here, there has never been a reason to. You thought it would be harder to get in them since that incident a few years ago when a freshman was dared to sneak into the girl's bathroom through the vents, but apparently not. You just had to tug the grid off, crouch, and boom! You're in the vents.

Altough it is quite tight here, you can get around without much difficulty. You were never particularly tall or buff, and being only 14 years old helps. Your only challenge now is to find a way to the outside of the building, and since you don't know a map of the vents, it will take quite a while for you to-

You feel a gentle breeze coming from your right, as well as a bit of light. You turn your head to see what's the deal with that and notice a small opening there, the size of the opening you first entered through.

Huh. You're gonna end up making Vriska jealous with how lucky you are today.

With newfound determination, you crawl to the vent opening, pushing the metal bars from the inside, then hastily wriggling out like a young troll stumbling out of its grub cocoon. Probably not the best metaphor, but it's what it looked like for you.

You stand up, straightening your skirt and dusting off your jacket from the grime on the vents _-someone oughta clean them, you shudder when you think of how dirty that place was-_ and then look around to try and get a better look at your surroundings. It seems like you ended up in the small garden on the left side of the school. No problem, at least you have some protection from the trees if someone is around to see you use your powers.

Right, let's do this.

You grin, and it's that creepy smile that always left Eridan slightly creeped out, and somehow managed to charm Sollux. The smile that shows off your teeth, which were now starting to get pointy as **Life** fluttered around you like a swarm of butterflies. You can feel it as it calls out to you, as it changes you, as it makes you _powerful._

It lifts you off the grass, carding through your long black hair as it seemed to make it even _longer,_ whereas before it barely reached your hips, it now looks long enough to reach your ankles. It feels refreshing, like taking a breath of fresh air after spending days underwater. It feels nostalgic, like meeting a friend years after you've last seen each other.

It feels like winning, it feels like an accomplishment. It feels like _energy._

Yes, energy. That's the best way to describe this feeling. You feel energized, as you could do whatever you wanted. You feel **Life** at your fingertips, allowing you to actually _do_ whatever you want. Giving you the 'ok' to manipulate it and use it how you see fit.

Oh, you missed all of this _so much._

Your feet touch the grass again, and you can _feel _the life running below your feet and _around_ you, as the trees and bushes surround your body, you can feel _everything.___

And it's amazing.

You breathe in, now clawed fingers twitching for a certain golden trident. You float, this time consciously, and begin the flight to the main 'battlefield.'

You hope you aren't _too_ late.

* * *

By the time the last Hero arrived, most of the Underlings had already been 'cleaned', and smaller packs of imps were being taken care of by the military and police. The young girl was taken by paramedics and was reunited with her mother, but unfortunately, her chances of survival weren't very high. The paramedics were doing their best to save her, but knew deep down that the girl may not live long enough to see a new day.

Inside a restaurant, a large man fought with a small chalk imp. He held a chair above his head and swung at the monster, but wasn't fast enough and missed as the imp jumped to the side.

They had been in this battle for many minutes, and while the man had started sweating, the imp showed no sign of fatigue. If it went on like this, he would end up collapsing from exhaustion-

A short girl entered the restaurant. Her face was obscured by a brown hood, only a small smile showing. She had a beige shirt with a green tentacle-like symbol in her chest and a long frilly brown skirt which matched her hood. To complete, she wore striped green stockings and cute little dark pink shoes. The girl seemed oddly calm about the situation as she gazed into the room, apparently able to see even with her hood pulled down so low.

At last, she looked at the chalk imp, and seemed somewhat... Disappointed? She had the body language of a mother who caught her child doing something bad. She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, looking directly at the imp.

"Now that's just rude. Get outta here! Go cause trouble somewhere else!"

The other people in the room blinked, dumbfounded that the girl would say something like that at such time. As if the monster would just-

The small white beast huffed and shrugged, before sticking its tongue one last time to the man it was fighting, then promptly leaving the restaurant.

Everyone stared at each other as their brains took their time to fully process what had just happened. Then-

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THAT'S ALL WE HAD TO DO? ASK IT TO GET OUT??" Shouted the man holding the chair, an enraged expression on his face as he glared at where the imp had left.

The girl in brown shrugged, then looked at them with a mischievous smile on her face. "I don't know why you didn't think of that before." She said with a seemingly innocent voice, intertwining her fingers together in front of her and swinging from the balls of her feet.

Why did that sound... Condescending...?

Before more words could be exchanged, the girl left the scene, leaving behind a bunch of confused (and somewhat angry) adults.

* * *

The fight went on, the girl in brown and the woman in green continued to defeat the Underlings while the woman in pink showed the young hero where the 'portal' was, so he could use his Void powers to close it. When said Portal was closed, they went back to the fight and aided their companions, slashing and punching the otherworldly creatures as if they were professionals at it, which, most of the people watching thought, was probably the case.

In no time, the streets were clear from monsters as the Heroes focused on the bigger threats and the military assisted in defeating imps. Injured people were either treated by paramedics or sent to the hospital in ambulances. Firefighters helped put out the fires that were accidentally started during all the chaos and policemen escorted people away from the danger zones. After over an hour of disarray, things were finally starting to look up.

At last, when all seemed well, the Heroes came together in the sky, the four of them forming a small circle as they each looked at each other, not really knowing what to say and taking it all in.

"F-Feferi Peixes?" Asked the Heir Of Void, lifting a hand to his mouth in apparent shock. Of all people, he didn't expect _the Heiress herself_ to be part of this new superhero team, and although they had been in the same team in sgrub, he had yet to get used to her presence.

The girl giggled, glee obvious in her voice as she spoke. "Equius Zahhak! Nice to see you again!" She turned to the other two women, both clearly way older than her. "And I don't think I've met you two... I mean, I know you two are a Pyrope and a Leijon, probably Layla and Melaine, but what are your _actual_ names?"

The green heroine grinned, putting a hand on her hip and adjusting her glasses with the other. "Latula's the name, skating's my game," Latula turned to the last one to be presented, the girl in pink looking at Feferi and Equius curiously. "And this is Meulin Leijon! She's deaf, so sign or write if you wanna talk to her. Although, because of her classpect, she can literally see other people's emotions, so that won't always be necessary."

As if on cue, Meulin started signing to Latula, and after a few seconds, the mind player began signing back. She pointed at equius and slowly spelled his name, much to the confusion of the others.

"What are you doing?" Feferi asked, tilting her head left and letting a few strands of hair fall through the hole of her hood.

"She asked what your names are," Latula answered, this time pointing at Feferi as she started to sign once again. "And I'm just fingerspelling."

_"HEY! Uh... Down here!"_

Equius and Feferi looked down at the street, and down there was a man who seemed to be in his late twenties, wearing an expensive-looking suit and holding a microphone in his hand. Behind him, there was a bearded man with a large camera on his shoulder, which was pointed at the floating heroes. Accompanying them were police officers, their guns drawn but pointed at the floor.

The military and other authorities _-as well as some reporters, from the looks of it-_ had finally decided to approach them, as many of them were walking cautiously through the intersection they were floating above. Latula had finished signing to Meulin and were now looking down at the humans. Meulin seemed to be biting her lip, and Equius had started sweating once again.

They had defeated the Underlings and closed the Portal, but now what? People clearly saw them, and what they were capable of doing. Said people were now curious of them and wanted answers. Feferi remembers how the people back at her school reacted, with shouts of surprise, squeals of excitement and looks of bewilderment as the world around them fell apart, and as impossible things happened in real life, things that a day ago were considered fantasy and fiction now turned into the new reality. But what now?

What to do now that the world knows about you? Tell them the truth? Wait and see what happens next?

Latula seemed to have decided this. She touched Meulin's shoulder and spoke loud enough so that the two youngest would be able to hear her over the commotion under them. "Let's get outta here. I'm sure we all have places to be. We can sort it all later over pesterchum." She turned to Meulin and made an L-sign with her right hand, flipping the sign over and down. _"Later."_

Meulin nodded, then disappeared in a bright flash of magenta. Equius followed soon after, disappearing into nothing with a blink of an eye. Latula was about to leave too, but a small hand caught her wrist just as she closed her eyes to teleport. Puzzled, she looked at Feferi, who was biting her lower lip with sharp teeth and fiddling with the fabric from her skirt.

"Hey Latula, I..." She hesitated for a moment.

"Remember that little girl who almost got killed by a basilisk? Well... I wanna help her, but I'm not sure if I can go down there without being mauled by reporters or cops... Could... Could you come with me?" She asked rather sheepishly, not sure if her new friend would agree to help her.

Latula blinked. Oh, so that's it. The older woman smiled down at Feferi and held the girl's hand. "Don't worry, I'll go with you."

Even though both were equally nervous about going down there, where a bunch of humans stared up at them like a pack of hungry dogs, _-Feferi flinched, then arranged her skirt so that her underwear wouldn't be visible, even from the angle the humans were looking from-_ both of them slowly descended, until they were high enough that no one would be able to touch them but low enough for the people on the ground to hear.

She cleared her throat, tapping into her Mind powers to alter the way other people interpreted her voice _-an audible illusion, one could say-_ and began speaking for all to hear. For the first time, the entire world heard one of their new heroes speak.

"Hey guys! So here's the deal: My friend over here-" She gestured at Feferi's direction. "-Has healing powers, and I know that there are some injured people over there with the paramedics, particularly a lil girl who almost died." Latula's voice now had a serious tone into it, her back straightened as she looked down at the humans below her. "I know you all have questions, but there are more important things to take care of now, don't you think?"

People muttered and talked, reporters scribbling in their notepads or talking in front of cameras, some even daring to ignore what the heroine had just said and asking questions anyway. Feferi clenched Latula's hand a tad more, nervous about actually going down there. Latula squared her shoulders up once more, then began to slowly fly in the direction she had last seen the little girl at, an ambulance stuck between cars, unable to move as the medics worked on keeping the child alive until they got to the hospital.

The girl's mother was sitting on the pavement nearby, tears streaming down her face and frazzled hair all over the place. When Latula started talking, her head snapped up to look at the heroine, and when her daughter was mentioned, another round of tears came, which reduced her to the state she was now in, sobbing and clumsily trying to get up from where she was sitting to greet the heroines.

As the girl and woman approached, a small barricade was made by the police around the ambulance so that no one but the doctors and the girl's mother would be able to get near the two. As they landed, the mother rushed to them, being held back by a man in a military uniform, who was looking at them with distrust in his eyes.

"Y-You, you're going t-to help her? Right? Please, my daughter, she's-she's dying! Please-" The woman stuttered, a sob interrupting her frantic request. Feferi pursed her lips, and let go of Latula's hand to make small 'calm down' gesture with both arms.

"Don't worry! Our job is to help everyone, and I can heal her pretty easily!" Feferi smiled at the woman, tactfully not showing any sharp teeth. Latula altered how Feferi's voice sounded, making it a bit less high-pitched, and adding a slightly softer tone into it. While the younger girl consolidated the woman, the Mind-bound looked around for a second, glancing at the large crowd that had formed around the police barricade. They needed to go, quickly.

"So, may we see the girl now? We're in a bit of a rush..." Latula said, resting a hand on the handle of her rapier as she watched desperate reporters trying to go past the police and talk to them. She was getting restless, and judging by the way Feferi glanced at the people near her, she wasn't the only one.

The woman nodded and started leading them to the ambulance, much to the military man's anger. "You're letting them near your daughter!?" He exclaimed, staring at Feferi's claws with a mixture of fear, disgust, and repugnance as she lowered her hands to her side.

The woman glanced at the man, still guiding the heroines to where her daughter was. "They killed the monster that ate my child. They killed _every_ monster that appeared. I don't know who or _what_ they are, but I know that they're on our side, and they offered to heal my daughter. That's enough for me." The last part was whispered, but the heroines and the man were still able to hear it clear as day.

Feferi opened the ambulance door, accidentally startling one of the medics. She looked at Feferi in confusion, but wasn't able to say anything as the Witch Of Life hopped on the back and stood next to the passed-out girl.

The worker's protests were halted by the child's mother, who landed a hand on her shoulder and did nothing to stop the heroine from touching her injured daughter.

With a deep breath, Feferi put her hands together, one on top of the other. She smiled when she felt **Life** dance around her fingers, but quickly frowned when she felt how the girl was _barely_ clinging to life. She was going to die if no one did anything.

And so, Feferi did something.

* * *

It's dark.

You feel numb. You can't hear anything, see anything, feel anything. You can barely even _think._

You don't know where you are, or why everything seems so _far away_ and yet so _close._ Your head aches, and it's almost like someone is pounding on it, but for some reason, you aren't very worried about it.

In fact, you're not really worried about anything.

You can't feel or think, but that doesn't bug you as much as it should. Your legs feel funny, but you aren't thinking of that right now. You aren't really thinking of anything.

It's dark.

And then, it _isn't._

There's... Pink. It's small, and you _feel_ it more than you _see_ it, which is weird. You can't feel anything, and yet you can feel pink? How can you even feel a color?

You don't know, but that's alright. You don't think you need to know.

Pink embraces you, and it feels nice. Certainly better than not feeling at all. It's like a hug. A very big and very warm hug. You try to hug it back, but your limbs are heavy, and you too be honest, you don't really want to move. It feels nice like this.

The color dances around your arms and torso, and suddenly, you can _feel_ again. It's not like before, when all you had were echoes of touch and sounds, you can actually _feel_ the warmth traveling through you. It's cozy, and you smile at the nice feeling. You still can't feel your legs, but that's alright. Your arms aren't as heavy, and you can breathe much better now.

There is... _someone_ near you. You don't know who it is, but you can see Pink embracing them too. Unlike you, Pink's embrace on the person isn't delicate. It's not hurting them, it's more like _excitement,_ like Pink is happy to be around that person. You don't know how but, you get the idea that whoever this is, they are the one _guiding_ Pink, showing it where to go and what to do. Pink happily complies.

Your legs are back. You don't think they ever left you, but it sure felt like it. Or rather, _didn't_ feel like it. The whole point of your legs being gone is not being able to feel them. You can think more clearly now. Your hearing is still quite bad, and it's still dark, but things are better, somehow.

_"... Can you hear me?"_

__... What._ _

__

_"I take that as a yes! Hello there! Don't worry, you'll be fine and walking around in no time! I just need to finish this up a little- your head wasn't _too_ bad, thankfully. The main injuries are already taken care of and-"_

_Wait, who are you? How are you talking to me?_

You didn't _hear_ her voice per se, more like felt it, just like how you felt with Pink. You really need to learn what Pink is, or what it's called.

_"How rude of me, I didn't even present myself! You may call me..."_

There was a small moment of silence as the person- _girl_ guiding Pink thought. Your head wasn't fuzzy anymore, and you could hear the hum of machines and people talking. _Lots_ of people taking.

_"... How about... Feferi?"_

_Excuse me?_

_"I don't get called that by many people anymore, even if it's my true name. You can call me that, I wouldn't mind."_

_If it's your true name, then why don't people call you that anymore?_

_"... It's complicated."_

When "Feferi"didn't elaborate, you opened your eyes.

There was white everywhere, and light assaulted your eyes. You squinted, bringing your hand to hour head and groaning a little. There's a girl standing next to you, wearing brown and beige clothes and with small _pink_ flames dancing around her whole body, focusing more on her hands, which were resting at her side.

You hear a gasp, and you cry out when you feel a large body colliding with yours. You can hear sobbing and whispering, accompanied by what you can now recognize as shouts coming from outside. While it is nice that you can hear again, all of the commotion and loud noises are giving you a headache.

Looking around the room, you try to figure out where you are. Other than the woman hugging you _-your mom, you recognize her voice with the way she whispers sweet nothings in your ear-_ and the girl with the brown dress, there is also a man wearing a US army uniform, standing next to large double doors _-are you in an ambulance?-_ who is staring down at the two weirdly dressed girls, one of which wears a bright green outfit with a hood that covers half of her face. At last, there are two people dressed in white in one of the small compartment you were in, looking at you wide-eyed, and pale as if they had seen a ghost.

Your mom lets go of you, and you notice her mascara was all over the place. In an attempt to clean the mess up, she brings the back of her hand and scrub her eyes, but ends up making an even bigger mess. You furrow your brows as you look at her, a usually sound and composed woman, now with a face full of black mascara and a quivering lip.

She smiles and takes off her neon pink scarf, carefully wrapping it around your neck _-that can't be right. This is your mom's favorite scarf, and even though she loves you and knows how careful you are, she almost never lets you wear her scarf-_ and kissing you in the forehead, tugging you closer so she can once again hug you.

This feels nice and all, but you still have no idea what's going on. You finally decide to ask.

"Mom... What's going on?"

Your mom's hand stills in your head, fingers no longer carefully carding through your short hair as she pauses. Everyone is looking at you now, the weird girls have stopped whispering to each other and the soldier has stopped glaring daggers at them to look at you.

Your mom looks at you, fingers still in your hair, when she speaks, there's a twinge of hope in her voice, and an expression you couldn't write place on her face.

"You... Don't remember?"

You don't know what you're supposed to say. Remember what? The Pink warm energy that embraced you and healed you? The girl as she spoke quietly to you, revealing her name that not many use it? _What were you supposed to remember?_

One of the doctors sitting in the back answers that unspoken question for you. "What is the last thing you remember, before waking up in the ambulance?"

You look down at your lap, lightly biting the inside of your cheek while trying to remember what you were doing before it all. You assume they what to know about _before_ the Pink warmth and before Feferi (you assume that's the girl in the brown dress' name). You try, but all you remember is going out for lunch with your mom- something you don't do often, with how busy she is with work. Then, out of nowhere, there's

Oh.

You remember now. You wish you hadn't.

Running. Screaming. Your mother grabbing you by the arm as both of you scramble asking with everyone else and then-

Panicking. Kicking and screaming as _dark claws pick you up from behind, lifting you up and **there's a lot of teeth and-**_

You're crying now. You can feel hot tears run down your check as your mom hugs you closer still. She's crying too, you can hear her sobbing as she once again cards her fingers through your hair. You wish you hadn't remembered. You really do.

You hear footsteps behind you, and You slowly turn around to see that the two girls are closer to you. Feferi is smiling, and you can see two rows of shark-like teeth there and you _try._ You really _really try_ to compress the shiver that's trying to run down your spine. You really try.

The other girl, however, didn't scare you much. She's dressed in green, and wearing pants and a shirt instead of a dress Uline Feferi- in fact, their outfits are overall very different. She leans down, putting her hands in her knees and being almost eye-level with you. You see the soldier tense a bit behind the two.

"Hey little lady," The girl in green says. That's when you note that perhaps this lady isn't as young as you originally thought. You can't tell for sure because of her hood, but compared to Feferi, she was way taller, just like an adult. "What's your name?" She asks.

You barely hesitate. They saved your life- or at least Feferi did, as far as you know. Your mom let them near you, and she'd _never_ let anything or anyone dangerous near you. The man in the corner may be wary, but maybe he's just hard to trust.

And so, you two them your name.

"Rose." You say, voice hoarse from crying. "Rose Lalonde."

You see Feferi flinch, but don't say anything. The woman in green nods, then offers you her hand while smiling.

"Sup Rose, name's Latula." She smiles even more as you shake her hand, just like your mom taught you to do. Your mom wipes her eyes once more, and send Latula a grateful smile, and even if it's shaky, you can still tell it's a genuine one.

"Thank you both so, so _much_ for saving my daughter. She wouldn't be here if it weren't for you two." Your mom sniffles, holding you close. You return the embrace, nuzzling into the scarf she let you borrow.

"No problem! It was a pleasure to meet you two." Feferi says, and there's something off about her voice, something that wasn't the before. She's fidgeting with her claws and seems to not be actually looking at any of you. 

"My name is Roxanne Lalonde, But you can just call me Roxy." Your mom says, a bit of the light on her eyes coming back as she looks at the girl and woman.

Feferi tugs at Latula's sleeve, making the older woman look at her. "We need to go. We can talk more and with the others later."

Latula nodded, before waving at you and your mom. "Byeee! See you around maybe!"

Feferi nodded, but was still pulling at Latula's sleeve. "Yeah, bye girls! Bye everyone else!" As she said the last sentence, she turned and waved at everyone else on the car, then hastily opened the ambulance's doors and jumped out.

Except she _didn't_ land on the pavement as you expected. When they jumped, instead of going down, they went _up._

You gasped, and you could hear your mother chuckle above you. Feferi could heal, and both of them could fly!? What were they?? How- What...

Were they...

...Witches?

Sure, they weren't flying on a broom and didn't use wands to do magic, but maybe that's how witches _actually_ do it! Your mom was right! Witches and wizards _did_ exist!

You laugh as you look up at them in awe as they flew away to the horizon, disappearing in small bursts of green and pink while reporters run around like headless chickens, frustrated that they weren't able to talk to them.

You and your mom slowly leave the ambulance, and as the people outside notice you two, out most importantly, the fact that you're _alive_ and that all of your injuries were _magically_ healed, another wave of shouting questions and general chaos begins. You hide behind your mom as the police escort you to a safer place, the soldier who was with you inside the ambulance still trailing behind you two, but with a much more sour expression.

You can't wait to tell your friends what you saw today!

* * *

"So, that _was_ one of the kids you and your friends trolled."

"Yes! But... She's _younger._ When I first saw her, she was about my age! Now she looks _4 sweeps old,_ give it or take."

Sigh. "More shit to talk about later, then."

"Yeah... Well, I guess that's it then, bye Latula! See you later! I gotta do to school now, I kinda ditched human Eridan."

"Lmao yeah, go ahead, bye!"

* * *

A young boy stood in his living room, holding his father's hand as he excitedly babbled on and on about _"actual real-life superheroes, REAL ONES!"_ As his father patiently listened. Both were curious about this new development and had their eyes glued to the TV and listening attentively to what the news anchor said as more _-not much, but still-_ info poured in about the Heroes.

Stories about the magenta woman saving a little boy, about how all you had to do to get rid of the smaller ones was telling them to go away _-how had nobody thought of that?-_ and more.

Heck, they were even able to bring that girl back to life! The college see the girl's face, for she was hiding behind her mother as they were leaving away by and men, but still!

The young boy couldn't wait to talk to his friends about everything.

* * *

corrosiveCommander opened a memo on board WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

CC: SERIOUSLY. WHAT THE FUCK.

adventurousGossipmonger responded to the memo!

AG: AS IF ANY OF US KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON, MELODY.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bathroom God-Tiering! Now at the bathroom nearest to YOU!  
> **Expertise on how to use powers not included**  
> And yeah, our dearies don't look very human when they go God-tier! They're still humanoid, but I decided to include things such as pointy ears, claws, sharp teeth, this kinda non-human stuff. They don't have horns, and their skin is still their respective colors instead of grey, but it kinda comforts them that they look a bit more like trolls then humans when they go God-tier :D  
> "Mr Tony" is a character inspired by TheLadySyk0's own character, Earl (who is inspired by a real life guy. Huh.)  
> Even if this chapter is quite long, I feel like I left out some stuff :/  
> The kids and ancestors make their appearance! Hooraaay! (Kinda? All the ancestors do is just a small bit of dialogue between Mindfang and )(IC lmao)  
> BTW: I made up the ancestor's chumhandles :) they were inspired by the dancestor's.


	8. A Mother's Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fish empress is neither a fish nor an empress. Not anymore, at least.
> 
> A group of unexpected visitors arrives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't live in the United States! Sorry if the news sounds a bit off.  
> I got the city name from a generator, and chose a state by random.  
> Sorry for the late update, this chapter did NOT want to be written :/

Wednesday, April 17th

Melody Constance Peixes never really believed in fantasy.

She may have liked it once upon a time when she was younger and spent most of her time procrastinating instead of studying. She would go to the library near her childhood home and spend hours and hours in that old, comfortable chair in one of the corners of the main study room, reading J. R. R. Tolkien's works almost religiously. The magic in his words always fascinated her, to the point where she wanted nothing but to _live_ in those worlds he made. She wasn't afraid to show her love for fantasy, and every week, she would bring a different book for school, always of the fantasy and/or adventure genre. By the time she reached 6th grade, just about the whole school knew not to mess with the girl, much less say _anything_ bad about the books she read.

She sent more than _a few_ people to the hospital, and would do it again if needed.

Miraculously, she had managed to make friends while still in middle school. Her first "partner in crime", as she calls him, was a boy with a huge mane of hair, and purple eyes that glared at everything and everyone that moved. He was raised in a church, with super religious parents and equally religious peers, and it influenced him more than people expected. The only language the boy spoke was Bible verses, and that crept the other kids enough that not many wanted to come near him. Besides, it got tiring when he would just answer everything with repeated quotes.

When he first saw Melody, back in fourth grade, she had just sent another boy to the emergency room with a broken nose. It was, as many dared say, love at first sight. Kullen, as much as he wanted to, could never punch his problems into oblivion. His parents preached about peace and kindness, even if some of their actions said otherwise. Because of that, the boy was never able to hurt a single hair on another person's body and always had his parents breathing fire on his neck, a pair of watchful eyes just _waiting_ for him to get in trouble. But as he saw that gorgeous girl punch an older boy in the face hard enough to break the sucker's nose, he _knew._

He wanted, nay, he _needed_ to talk to her.

He was the 'good kid', the one that never got in trouble, the one that never said _anything_ remotely bad of nature. She was the troublemaker whose parents couldn't give two shits if she was sent to the principal's office three times a week and daydreamed more about fictional characters then paid attention to class.

Kullen needed to get some things off his chest, and if he wasn't allowed to smack a bitch, Melody would do it for him.

Days later, Kullen stood waiting for her to get out of detention, clutching his backpack's straps tight and looking at nothing but the floor and his shoes. The classroom door opened and the supervisor came out, glancing questionably at the quiet boy, but not saying anything. Trailing behind him was the girl he was waiting for, all wild hair and pink-colored glasses, marching with a disinterested expression on her face.

The boy squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and out of his mouth came the words that would unknowingly change his life.

"Peixes. I want to talk to you. In private." His voice didn't shake and his resolve didn't waver as the girl turned around and looked him up and down, examining him and judging him in every way possible. She was aggressive, shoulders hunched and lip slightly curved. He didn't care, if anything, it made him want to talk to her even more.

"Whaddya want."

The boy glanced at the inspector, who had just turned a corner and presumably out of hearing range. He looked at the girl once more.

"I have a rather large problem and was wondering if you could help me with it."

The girl paused, the smirked. Just as she opened her mouth to retort, Kullen pulled out a hefty stash of money, which he had stolen from his parents the night before for the purpose of this meeting. He gently placed the cash in the flabbergasted girl's hand, eyes still burning with determination.

"I got money. I'll pay."

A few seconds passed, and for a moment, Kullen thought the girl would refuse, and that perhaps he should have used another method of approach. He knew the young girl's family was financially unstable, but also knew how prideful she was. He was about to put the money back into his bag and apologize, maybe think of a new way to get to her, but then-

 _"Now_ we're talking!" She laughed.

From then on, Kullen would pay Melody, point her to the target, and by the end of the day said target would go home in tears, for both of them knew if Melody continued to beat up people, she would end up expelled, and that was the last thing they wanted. Instead of the ideas physical treatment, their victims received a verbal beating film the girl, who got less and less violent over the years as this practice continued. It was always like this: someone would piss off the so ironically demonic boy, he would bring the girl money, and the next day, the unlucky sap would apologize to Kullen. With time, they got closer and closer, and neither were particularly bothered by it. The boy had someone to vent to and who would do the dirty work for him; the girl had a way to get easy money fast and her first true friend since kindergarten.

Her second Partner In Crime came about a year after she met Kullen. Caspian, as clever as he is, was an insufferable prick. _That_ was a fact.

He came from a rich family and was used to getting everything he wanted handed to him in a matter of seconds. He was stubborn, and wouldn't stop until he reached his objective. The latter trait wouldn't be so bad, of not the fact that said "objective" was to annoy the fuck outta Arachne Serket.

If many dared say that what Kullen felt for Melody was love at first sight, many would _also_ dare say that what Caspian felt for Arachne was _complete and utter **hate**_ at first sight.

Maybe it was the way she talked, or how she was always so boisterous and prideful. Maybe Caspian saw her a rival because of their similar personalities. No one really knows what was it that made Caspian dislike her so much. Melody liked to joke and say that they were hate-soulmates, and that the universe had made them _especifically_ for each other.

The reason why he approached Melody was similar to Kullen's, but with a slight _twist._

Instead of going directly to her, Caspian went to _Kullen_ instead, having heard of the rumors that whoever messed with the boy would end up in the hospital the next day. Interestingly, he thought that _Kullen_ was the one beating the shit out of people. An awkward conversation ensued. To make matters worse (for Caspian), when Melody got to Arachne to fulfill his request, the two girls became _friends_ instead.

Melody found Arachne while she was reading a book. A _fantasy_ book. Needless to say, they got along without many altercations. Arachne's favorites were usually about pirates, thieves, and morally gray characters. All of which while seemed cool to Mel, never really caught her attention, not that it bothered the blue-eyed girl. As long as the other was willing to discuss and fangirl over fantasy and magic books, they had no problem with each other.

Caspian was _furious._ It lessened somewhat when Arachne had to change schools, but he never really let Mel forget that amusing situation. Kullen grins every time it is brought up.

Years passed, and the lonely unapproachable girl slowly opened up, making friends, enemies, and being overall so _different_ from the little rascal she once was. Caspian developed a crush on a slightly older girl called Marie Maryam, and as short-lived as it was, it also allowed the trio to become part with Marie's friend group. There was Dexter, the obnoxious but charming boy with heterochromia, Leone, the clever girl with a strong will, and last but not least, Karma, the 'leader' of the group. They all became friends, with only a few arguments here and there _-Dexter didn't like Melody much, just as Marie thought Caspian was kinda creepy-_

Melody found her own little "hate crush" (a term she created to describe Caspian's and Arachne's relationship all those years ago when they were still in contact) in the form of her own roommate. Akako was a Japanese transfer student with _severe_ attitude problems and daddy issues. She reminded Melody of herself when she was younger. They constantly got into fights, even over the pettiest of things, but were close. She entered their little friend group somewhat smoothly.

With time came change, and one indistinct afternoon, while sitting on the cafeteria of the mall nearest to her house, eating a delicious slice of chocolate cake after a particularly stressful morning at work, Melody saw _her_ again.

Still as pretty as ever, but with blonde hair now long and as untamable as herself, so different compared to her younger self, who kept her hair in a short bob. She was sitting with three other people; a man with a mohawk, a tall and buff guy with long hair in a ponytail, and a slim woman with red hair and freckles. They were laughing, and even from afar, you could see they were close. The three strangers got defensive when you approached them and were startled upon finding out you and the blonde girl were friends.

Personality-wise, Arachne hadn't changed much from since she was a kid. Really, the only difference between teenage Arachne and kid Arachne was the same as teenage Melody and kid Melody. They were both now surrounded by real friends, who cared for them and would stay by their side even at their worst.

Besides, teen Arachne still liked books, hell yeah!

Now a group of twelve, all of them grew up and became the adults they were today. So much has changed, yet at the same time, so little. They were still the same kids, just a few decades older, and with kids!

But the one thing that stayed the same, the one thing about Melody that wouldn't change for the end of the world, was that Melody Constance Peixes _never_ believed in fantasy. She loved it, she talked about it, she dreamed about it. But never believed.

Until yesterday.

Now an adult, at age 42 Melody C. Peixes worked as the owner and founder of a large baking products company. One of the biggest in the whole world. She was rich, she had two daughters whom she loved more than the whole world. She had a beautiful house with a huge swimming pool, sufficient to satisfy her love for swimming. She kept contact with her friends and their kids. Her life was perfect.

But her world, as well as the world of billions of others, had just been shattered like glass.

This. This changes everything. Monsters. Magic. _Superheroes._

All that she believed in, or rather, _didn't_ believe was suddenly reality. There were monsters of all shapes, sizes, and colors in her world. There were beings with superpowers, all of which were unknown except for one. _Magic,_ or at least something similar to it, existed, and these beings used them. The girl in the beige dress _-"Feferi", the official reports said-_ used this "magic" to heal a little girl.

Where had these heroes come from? What were their motives? Their stories? Their powers? They were clearly capable of hand to hand combat, but all of them displayed supernatural powers, both when they disappeared and when they were simply floating and talking.

Melody remembered some stuff from about half a year ago, about a vigilante who fought crime during the night. Whoever it was, they were never caught, and the crime rate has decreased immensely since their first appearance. Maybe the vigilante knew something about the Heroes? It was a long shot, but with how absurd things were now, who knows?

When she first heard the news, her mind immediately went to her daughters. They were both in school, which wasn't too far away from the attack. The monsters didn't go that far, the heroes did a great job at slaying them before they got anywhere near the school, and Melody almost cried when she heard that her precious little princesses were safe. She wished, more than anything at that moment, that she could just leave everything behind and go to where her girls studied, just so she could hold them close and reassure herself that _yes, they're fine. Nothing happened to them._

And that's exactly what she did once she got home. Mina huffed at the roughness of the hug, but never really complained. February on the other hand... She tensed. For a moment, Melody thought she had _somehow_ gotten hurt, all those worse scenarios that only mothers could come up with suddenly flashing before her eyes. Just as she opened the mouth to ask what's wrong, however, her daughter melted back into her grasp, as she had always done so many times before.

It was... Strange, sure, but she didn't think much of it. Her girls were strong. Her girls were alright.

Whether she liked it or not, the world around her was changing. Her childhood dreams were becoming true in the most twisted, unexpected way possible.

... Excitement could come later. For now, Melody C. Peixes had a lot to think about.

* * *

"And now, about the 'Monster Attack' that happened yesterday! Just _what_ where these creatures? Who were those people fighting them? And most important of all: _Why?"_

The pretty blonde woman turned to the camera, sitting daintily on a blue chair and wearing a smile that looked a bit too perfect, a bit too practiced in the mirror. She held some papers on her hands but didn't look much at them, most likely having rehearsed those lines over and over again before coming on live TV.

"For those who have missed the news, yesterday at approximately one in the afternoon, in the southern parts of Ansbridge, Massachusetts, strange unidentified creatures of various sizes and colors appeared _seemingly_ out of nowhere." The woman crossed her legs, her voice taking on an intrigued tone. "Authorities took care of the issue to the best of their abilities, but it was ultimately dealt with by a team of four unknown individuals, who possessed, shockingly enough, what appeared to be 'magical' abilities." The woman's eyebrows shot up, her expression now incredulous, but still held that bit of intrigue and curiosity, her smile ever-present.

"According to authorities and people at the scene, this mysterious quartet came one by one, the earliest report being by a group of 6, including a young boy, who had all been attacked by one of the larger monsters. They all had the same thing to say about this first hooded heroine: she came, defeated the monster quickly and swiftly, teeth left without a word. The other three came minutes apart, and in the span of an hour and a half after the attack started, it was already coming to an end."

The scene changed to a shaky video, apparently taken from a phone of a dark pink blur dancing between monsters, her fighting style a mixture of punching and slicing. She landed on the floor with the gracefulness of a cat, only posting of a few seconds before launching into combat one more.

The 'Heroes', as the group has been called by general media, write simple clothes and simpler color palettes. The first one wrote dark magenta robes, with a torn-up cape, although some people theorize that may be just the design of the cape itself. She had a half-filled light pink heart symbol on her chest, and unlike the other heroes, her name is unknown up until this point. There is a _very_ probable theory that this woman is actually _deaf,_ due to later images of another heroine signing to her in ASL."

The picture changed once again, this time of a woman in green didn't through monsters with a sword. They were mostly pictures, the videos too shaky to be viewable.

"The second heroine's clothes were able to be observed in more detail, for she was one of the two who approached civilian population. She wore mint green clothes, with a darker green cape. Her symbol was a pastel green circle with small tendrils coming out from three different directions. She accompanied the youngest heroine and helped heal what would, without their help, have been one of the fatalities of the incident. While in the ambulance, she revealed her name to be 'Latula'."

Now, they showed a boy dressed in dark blue, his hood outrageously long, yet still not seeming to bother him much as he fought. He didn't use any weapons, only punched and kicked his foes, his strength more than obvious to ask of those who were watching. Everything he touched almost seemed to pulverize.

"The only boy in the team is this young man in blue. He seems to be WAY younger than the last two girls, but physically stronger than the average adult. We don't know any of the Heroe's ages, but as you can see by his height and frame, he probably isn't a legal adult yet. How he is able to throw these punches around is still a mystery- magic probably, but we can't be sure yet, there are lots of things to learn about them. By fingerspelling, we know that his name is Equius."

A video with better quality than the last ones was being shown now, most likely taken from a news camera. This time, instead of fighting, the heroes being shown were outside an ambulance. A short girl in a beige and brown dress and the heroine known as Latula. They entered the ambulance, and the video stopped, another one being shown of them leaving the ambulance and flying away.

"Last but not least, we have the youngest girl, with confirmed healing powers. During the attack, an 8-year-old girl, whose identity will not be revealed for the sake of privacy, was injured severely. Official reports show-" The image changed to a document with highlighted parts. "-That the young heroine used some kind of 'pink aura' to heal the injured child, who was ready to walk barely minutes after the healing. Due to fingerspelling and from what she revealed, her name is 'Feferi'."

The blonde woman on the screen again, looking at the camera and with her fingers intertwined and legs crossed.

"All four of them disappeared soon after the attack ended. We have minimal information on them, and more questions than answers. Unfortunately, we don't know their motives, where they came from, or _what_ they even are. Close-ups reveal then to have sharp nails- claws, perhaps?"

The woman smiled brightly. "We will continue to deliver information as soon as it comes. Stay tuned for more!"

* * *

"So, whaddya think of this "heroes" bullshit?"

"I dunno man, I mean, yeah they're awesome and kicked done serious ass, but who knows what the fuck they're gonna do next? Like-"

"Dear fucking lord, Mike, you worry too damn much. They're awesome!"

"How about you actually use your head before saying shit, Evelyn. Mike's right, they may have helped us now, but just _wait_ for it. These assholes mean trouble."

"UGH! You guys are such killjoys! Fucking hell..."

The four other teens were startled by the fifth voice, having forgotten he was even there. Harry almost _never_ came to their meet-ups, and despite being friends since fourth grade, it was a miracle that he even talked with the four of them.

When the group reached 10th grade, they slowly drifted from the good, If not a bit mischievous kids to downright troublesome, smoking cigarettes in the back of the school, meddling with all the wrong people, getting into fights constantly. It was a miracle that none of them have been expelled yet. Harry was the odd one out. Instead of getting into trouble and constantly spending his afternoons in detention, he studied on his free time and did his best to be the goody-two-shoes on the class.

In Evelyn's opinion, Harry was probably trying to impress his dad. When asked about this, however, the only answer he gave was _"That's none of your business."_

"... You... _Like_ the 'heroes'?" Matt asked, disbelief obvious in his voice, and the others couldn't help but sympathize with his confusion. Of all people, they had expected Harry to be one of the most skeptical ones, not trusting the new heroes right away. To see him support them was certainly unexpected.

Harry blushed, not used to the attention. "I mean, if they had bad intentions then they would have done whatever evil they wanted to do in the beginning, right? And if they just wanted the public to like them and _later_ do something bad, then I doubt they would go as far as going out of their way to save the little girl." He shifted in place. "This could be just one very elaborate scheme, but like that news lady said this morning, we barely know anything about them. While it's good to be careful, it's too early to make assumptions."

Evelyn blinked, before grinning and wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulders. "See? This guy gets it! Y'all too damn boring!"

Matt scowed, but kept quiet and continued smoking. Alex laughed, and Jason pondered over what Harry had just said. There was a short moment of silence in the group as they slowly relaxed, letting all tension go and basking in the presence of their childhood friends. It almost felt like the old times, except for the part where Matt smoked. The silence was broken by Alex stretching, his collar bone popping rather loudly.

"Well, I was keeping it for later, but I think now's a good time to pop this bad boy open."

The four others looked at each other, confusion clear in there faces, and Jason groaned.

"Please don't tell me you brought beer. You know how I hate it when you guys get drunk." Harry nodded along, remembering the time when Eve, Matt and Alex had gotten drunk from cheap beer and puked all over Jason's car. How Alex even named to get alcohol was a mystery, he didn't even look _close_ to 21.

"Pfft. Don't worry dude, it's _better_ then beer." He smirked, walking to the trunk of his car and dramatically opening it while beckoning the others to come closer.

Henry peered inside, curious but cautious. He didn't quite know what to expect, but what he saw made him both want to facepalm and laugh at the same time. Judging by the reaction of the others, they were thinking the same thing.

Alex brought _ice cream_ for their hang out. Huh.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Matt growled. "Ice cream? What are we, seven?"

Jason laughed, visibly in a better mood than before. "Oh come on, when was the last time we even had ice cream together?"

"It's been years!" Evelyn laughed with amusement clear in her eyes. "Remember when we were younger and used to go to Matt's house all the time to eat ice cream? Ah, good ol' times..."

Matt flushed and crossed his arms in front of his chest, still holding a cigarette. "Oh fuck you guys. We're almost 18, this is stupid."

Alex looked at Matt and said, in the most deadpan voice he could muster, "Are you telling me you _don't_ want ice cream?"

...

A series of emotions passed through Matt's face. Confusion, anger, horror, acceptance, and one that could simply be described as 'end me right now'. He dropped his cigar and stepped in it, killing the small amber.

"It better be fucking chocolate."

The four others cheer, Alex opens the ice cream container and grabs a few plastic spoons he brought for this occasion. Turns out he bought three flavors in one, knowing his friend's different tastes. All five of them dig in happily, chatting about anything and everything without much care in the world around them. Even Matt seemed to relax!

It was just like the old times.

_And then it wasn't._

The sky, which had been a dark shade of blue with streaks of yellow lingering from the sunset, was now even darker as the stars seemed to disappear. The wind picked up, a cold breeze passed through the teens and left a chill down their spines. For a moment, the world was silent, without the sound of crickets behind their school, without any sort of conversation or noise. Everything and everyone was still.

Reality waited with baited breath.

And then, reality _screamed_

There was no way no describe that noise other than _unnatural._ It was as if all that is damned, all that is unholy had come together to make a horrible aberration of a choir, their voices intertwining together and creating a deafening, horrible thing. The wind was even stronger now, and the five teenagers had to cover their eyes because of it. None of them could hear anything over that horrible sound, much less see anything. They screamed for help, for each other, for _anything-_

It stopped as abruptly as it started.

The five friends, now panting and looking at each other with horror-stricken eyes, stood dare barely daring to move. The air felt different, heavy, something had changed _drastically,_ that much was obvious even to the least sensible of observers. The wind, although calmer, was still strong enough to make Evelyn's long hair lift from her shoulders. Everyone was tense.

And then, there were _footsteps and humming._

They were calm, whoever it was, they weren't in a rush. They sounded almost lazy, walking towards the group of teens without much care. They _-It sounded like a man-_ were humming an almost unintelligible sing under their breath, and although it was quiet, it could be heard clearly through the silence of the world around them. Matt was the first to break out from the trance-like state they were in and quickly turned around to face whoever it was. He opened his mouth to shout at the mysterious newcomer to stay away, but his protests died off when he got a good look on _him_

He wasn't human. His skin looked tough, to the point where it looked like a shell- wait... It _was_ a shell, somewhat. The man had a carapace for skin, dark and almost impenetrable looking. He was wearing an expensive-looking suit, with the right sleeve torn off to show a metallic arm which was swinging lazily as he walked. Under the black fedora, there was short white hair peeking out, and looking directly at the man's face, the teens could see a _glowing_ white pupilless eye, the other one being hidden under an eyepatch.

Much to their horror, there was a pure black spirograph-shaped portal behind the doll-like man, in which three other beings stumbled out of, a short one with curly white hair and large round glowing eyes, a tall and thin figure with a scowl that showed shark-like teeth, and a _huge _burly figure wearing a button-up shirt with sleeves rolled up to reveal ball joints.__

The two groups stared at each other without saying a word. At last, the first carapace who appeared growled, the animalistic sound making the five friends coil away in fear.

"the fuck are you lookin at"

The five friends screamed and ran.

* * *

"UH... SPADES? THE KIDS LEFT SOME ICE CREAM."

"what flavor is it"

"Oh for fuck's sake. Leave it, we got more important things to care about."

"DROOG, SHUT YER TRAP AND COME EAT SOME GODDAMN ICE CREAM."

"oh shit it's chocolate hell yeah"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Grabs megaphone* )(IC LIKES LORD OF THE RINGS AND WILL FIGHT YOU FOR THE HONOR OF THOSE BOOKS
> 
> I couldn't decide between going for Melody or Constance (as a reference for Condescension), so why not both? I chose Melody because:  
> A) Started with 'Me', like Meenah.  
> B) Ariel's daughter.  
> C) I have a headcannon that all sea-dwellers can sing very well. It fits!
> 
> 11/06/2019 EDIT: Ok I drew teenage Condy ant 1 AM and while I don't like the result much, it's enough, I guess. https://shiirowriter.tumblr.com/post/188848439520/i-made-this-at-1-am-when-my-vision-wasnt-blurry
> 
> And yeah, some original characters... Don't worry! I'm planning a BIG surprise involving them!
> 
> The midnight crew looks more human! They look like real-sized dolls, to be exact. They have ball joints but also have hair and more human proportions.
> 
> Also, I'm starting a new fic! The reasons why I took quite a while to post this chapter was because I was busy reading Problem Sleuth and playing friendsim! I kinda paused reading PS and writing this because I want all of my focus on friendsim, and the fanfic I'm writing of it! Expect a friendsim fic soon :)


	9. The Seed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> February goes to school and meets some old (yet new) faces.
> 
> The midnight crew adjusts to living in a human world. Illegally of course.
> 
> A seed is planted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY FOR TAKING LONG TO UPDATE AAAA  
> Real-life has been all kinds of rough :(  
> I'm not very satisfied with the first half of this chapter, but the second half is actually quite decent!

Thursday, April 18th.

"Did you hear the news? Real-life heroes!"

"I still can't believe it actually happened."

"It's official, real life is a lie and anime is the only truth in the universe. MOVE OVER EXTRAS, SHONEN PROTAGONIST COMING THROUGH-"

"I wonder what's the full extent of their powers, I mean, we already know one can heal and another's super strong, and all of them can fly, but is that it? What about the older two?"

You walked through the halls of your school with your head up and an ear out. It has been two days since "The Attack", as people have been calling it, and it was time to come back to school. Yesterday, classes were canceled in fear that something else may happen, as well as to give some time for the situation to sink in. Unsurprisingly, now that school is back, the only topic everyone wants to talk about is the "Otherworldly Heroes".

You and your friends don't have an official name yet, and the media can't quite decide what to call you four. However, you are quite fond of "Otherworldly Heroes", it sounds so... Otherworldly!

A name for the group was one of the discussed topics in yesterday's memo with the others. You and Latula spent quite a while just throwing the most absurd and nonsensical names you could come up with at each other, much to Equius' annoyance and Meulin's amusement. There, you also discussed plans for if _-when, probably-_ there ever is another Underling attack, as well as what to do about this whole "everyone knows we exist and have powers" thing. The memo was, needless to say, filled with tension after that particular topic was brought up.

On one hand, this _may or may not_ be fun. On the other, having literally _billions_ of eyes on you is incredibly dangerous when it comes to hiding your identity. Equius and Latula thought that it would be better to stay as low as possible, while you and Meulin were a bit more hesitant to agree.

The memo ended with all of you agreeing to meet up in real life to discuss everything some more. Equius wakes up early, and therefore, has to go to bed early. When his family thinks he is asleep, he'll use his Void powers to teleport to the chosen meeting place, Meulin's apartment. You plan on using the excuse of going to sleep in a friend's house, and although you are quite young in this universe, you've done so enough times for your mother not to worry.

You wonder when the next-

"Feb! Dear lord, have you gone deaf?"

Startled, you turn around to see a harried-looking Adrian Ampora walking towards you. He looked annoyed, most likely because you hadn't heard him call you. He still hasn't quite forgiven you about abandoning him when the attack happened, and most likely will take a while to.

"Hi Adrian! Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

He huffed, then gripped the strap of his messenger bag. The two of you continued your path towards your first class of the day not talking much. After years of knowing each other as well as living close, there wasn't usually much to talk about other than some news.

The excuse you had given him for disappearing during the commotion was that after you found the 'person you've been looking for', you stayed with them and later had gotten lost in the crowd when everything was over and everyone was going home. You still feel kinda guilty, but back then, all could think of was about the new predicament you found yourself in. Once you arrived home, right before opening a memo with your fellow heroes, you talked with him, as well as assured your old friends that you were alright and that nothing happened in school.

Just as you're ready to enter your classroom, you see a flash of blonde and blue in the crowd. Knowing who it is, you turn around and wave. She spots you and waved back, a small grin on her face.

Victoria Serket, or as you know her, _Vriska_ is way older than you in this universe. Being 16 years old, she's a sophomore, and since your school is both a middle school and a high school, you are able to see her almost daily, along with some other friends who also study there. As always, Victoria's uniform lacks a tie, and her jacket is secured around her waist. She was never a fan of the dress code and has gotten in trouble with teachers and the principal over the years. As if a bit of trouble would stop her.

She was talking with Theresa (Or, well, _Terezi_ ), but you couldn't hear what it was about. Judging from the giggles, you can make a wild guess that you probably don't want to know. The Terezi in this universe was blinded in an incident at school, apparently pouring chemicals in her eyes as a result of not abiding by safety protocol in chemistry class. Victoria was there when it happened, but had no part in it.

~~If your past life has anything to say, it is that no, Vriska _did_ have an involvement in the incident. You won't say it out loud though.~~

Karkat, Kanaya, and Sollux also study in the same school as you, but you usually are only able to see them at lunchtime because of your different schedules. Because they're 17 already, while you're only 14, you don't share any classes with them as you do with Eridan and Gamzee. Equius and Nepeta are both homeschooled (Equius because he lives so far away from the nearest school) and Aradia and Tavros are both off to college.

You really oughta get used to the age difference. You're used to seeing your friends as 6 sweeps old, and now you're having a difficult time remembering their faces as older people, even with your human memories.

You enter the classroom and take a seat near the front, Adrian sitting next to you as always. Just as you finish taking out the materials you'll need for this class _-geometry, ugh-_ your phone pings. Adrian looks at you curiously as you fish out your phone from your bag.

"Who is it?"

GC: H3y, just to b3 sur3, 4t M3ul1n's, 8 PM r1ght?

You send out a quick "yup!" Before quickly putting away your phone. You don't think you have a way of explaining Adrian why you were going to meet up with Latula/Layla at "Meulin's place", and why she was typing in such a weird way. Better hide it before he sees it, to avoid any questions. You shake your head before answering.

"Nothing important, don't worry."

* * *

"ACK! Watch where you're going for fuck's sake!"

"shhhh someone's gonna hear us you moron"

Your name is SPADES SLICK, and it's been roughly a day since you came to this weird-ass world. It is _nothing_ like Derse, and much less like Alternia, with its fucking lame laws and absolutely _crawling_ with humans.

The last thing you remember from before coming here was one of the blonde kids charging towards your ass with his fucking sword held high. Damn bastard killed must've you, because next thing you know, you're walking towards the fucking light with a different fucking body and just _fuck._

At least your Crew is here. You missed these dumbasses.

Not that you would say it out loud.

So now, you don't really know where to go. You and your crew have been wandering the city for the past few hours without any particular objective in mind. It was now late afternoon and none of you had anything to eat. Thankfully, no one was stupid enough to just waltz into a store to steal shit. In the whole day you've been here, which isn't much but still, you haven't seen hair nor hide from other carapeceans other than your Crew, which makes you suspect that there _aren't_ other carapeceans.

This is _great._ You _love_ being stuck in a planet full of apes with no way back, no other members of your species, no food or shelter, and only having four idiots as acquaintances. It is all just absolutely _fantastic._

_Someone fucking kill me._

Since you can't just pull a gun on someone and steal their shit _-you don't feel like being found out and taken to a government facility or somethig-_ you resort to stealing from closed stores, when no human was around to scream bloody murder because of your appearance.

Speaking of which, yeah, it's different too. You look more... human. Although you don't really have the best experience with this species, you _can_ admit that it's nice being more flexible. You've got more joints now, which means you're more bendable and it's overall easier to get around. You guess you never noticed how stiff you were before since you can't really miss what you never had. _And your fucking wounds too!_ How come your entire body _except_ your eye and arm heal? You look bend new sans the fucking right eye and the metal arm. Ugh, looks like the universe can't even do a proper job at bringing someone back to life.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"yup."

You weren't.

As mentioned before, the only way to get food and stuff is to steal when no one was around, which is what you're doing right now. Although it would be more beneficial to steal from places like Walmart, where there was just about everything you could imagine, they didn't close this early. You're "shopping" at a store called 7-Eleven instead.

For whatever reason, this particular store didn't have many costumers, much to the owner's sadness. But because of that, they closed early, which made it the perfect target for stealing. You gotta thank that one random employee for all the info. Clubs overheard a conversation between a more experienced employee and some newbie, and the moment he passed it on to the rest of the crew, you were already making plans to break in.

So, it was now dusk, the last employee has just left, and you and Droog were ready to break in.

The back door was locked, and since the store was already closed, the front door would obviously be too. The only way in was to break in, and while you were pretty sure there was a security system in the store, as long as you were quick and busted the cameras everything would be fine. The plan was to go in by the back door, which would be smashed in, and steal as much shit as you could get your hands at without triggering the alarm and disabling the cameras.

"... Okay I don't think anyone's coming back. Let's go."

You huffed." i thought _i_ was the leader?"

"Shut up and get inside. Ugh, we should have brought Hearts along to this."

...

It went... Surprisingly well, actually.

The store wasn't as protected as you thought it was. There were only two security cameras and no alarm was activated when you broke down the door. As ironic as it was, it all left you on edge rather than calming you. It felt like the worst was about to happen, like the ball was going to drop _anytime now,_ it was only a matter of time until everything would go down. You didn't know _how,_ but if your gut had anything to say, it was coming.

Droog seemed to think otherwise.

The store wasn't large, but neither was it small. It had pretty much all you needed and the old duffel bag you found in a dumpster was full in about no time. You both took care to take mostly canned items and food that is easy to prepare and won't go bad. The only problem was with the drinks, most of which were supposed to stay in a fridge, which you obviously didn't have. _Hmm._

"i'll see if there's anything in the back, you take care of the drinks and stuff"

Droog looked up from where he was checking the shelves, a slightly disgruntled expression on his face. Yeah, he doesn't wanna deal with this.

You walked back to the room where you came from, in hopes that the little somewhat hidden box in the corner was actually a safe filled with money. What were the odds? Maybe that's where management stored their gains or something.

You whipped out your cast iron horse hitcher. Hell yeah, you still had that. Without much grace, you quickly smash the box's lock. This is too easy, whoever owns this place needs to fire themselves.

You open the box and... _Jackpot,_ this _is_ a safe!

You grin to yourself as you start taking the money. You may have no use for it _now,_ but the opportunity may come! And woah, there's quite a lot too-

_CRASH_

_"Ah!"_

Your head whips back so fast you pop your neck. Knife in hand, you slowly get up from your crouching position on the floor and carefully make your way to the doorway. _That didn't sound like Droog..._

Peeking from the doorway, you see... Droog's back? Oh wait- he's choking someone.

As you fully emerge from the back room, you get a clearer view of what's happening. One of the shelves from the middle of the store fell, which was probably what made the crashing sound. The front door of the store, which was previously closed and locked, was now open wide. The answer to this "mystery" was currently pressed against a wall by his neck, in the form of a young dark-skinned human boy.

"the fuck?"

Droog does not look away as he answers. "He came in when I was bagging stuff. We gotta kill him."

The boy tensed even more. His legs started kicking against Droog in an effort to be let go of. Droog merely grunted in annoyance as his shirt got dirtied from the kid's shoes. He tightened his grip, and the boy spoke in a pained voice.

"W-wha, what are y-you...? Yesterday- Argh!" He gasped.

Yesterday? The fuck this kid going on about- oh.

Wait a second.

You've seen this kid before. He's one of the brats with ice cream from yesterday!

Droog's seemed to have realized this too, as you could deduce from how his eyes widened a fraction. However, his grip on the boy's neck did not falter. His voice held no remorse as he spoke.

"Sorry kid, but it is how it is."

You stood unfazed, taking your knife to the boy's chest to speed things up a bit.

"W-WAIT! I won't tell anyone, I swear! P-Please, let me go- STOP!"

And now-

"MY DAD'S A COP! HE'LL FIND YOU TWO! HE'S GOT A DETECTIVE FRIEND-!

"Spades, hold on a moment."

You turn around, irritated that your companion would interrupt a quick death. You make sure the scowl on your face says everything. "what. you don't actually believe him right"

"Don't you think he looks familiar? And I'm not talking about yesterday. Look closer, something's off about him."

You roll your eyes and huff. What is he talking about? You never came to Earth before yesterday, how the fuck would you know some brat? You look at the kid's face, frightened and desperate. He had stopped talking once you two started talking, and was now staring at you with the slightest hint of easily crushable hope in his eyes. You don't see a thing... Wait.

"aight theres something to this kid, but still"

"... Do you seriously not see it? He looks just like on of _those_ guys, from... You know..."

"no i don't fucking know"

Droog grunts and leans in to whisper to you. You don't know what to expect, is this a game to see how the kid will react? Just what the fuck if going on-

You're honestly getting tired of your thought process getting interrupted, but this shit is important.

Droog cleans his throat. "A cop, you say? With a detective friend?"

"Y-Yeah! If you do anything to me, they'll hunt you down!" Jegus, the kid looks even more desperate now, if possible. But unfortunately for the kid, it looks like you and Droog were thinking the same thing.

Droog slackened his grip on the boy's neck, but still held on. The boy heaven and coughed as you walked away to one of the isles from the corner, which had some miscellaneous items in it. Quickly skimming through everything, you finally found what you were looking for.

You got the rope and the tape.

You heard struggling, and when you came back, Droog had the kid lying on his stomach with his hands on his back. You ignored his cries of despair and pain as you tied him up. Just as you were about to tape his mouth, Droog spoke.

"Hold on, I have to ask something." He turned to the kid. "What's your name?"

The boy looks at Droog in the eyes, all hope gone and pure _rage_ filling his expression. Without hesitation, he speaks.

"Fuck you."

You snort, and Droog looks ready to smack him.

* * *

The grass moved gently as the wind caressed its blades. The stars above shined beautifully as ever, little dots of white coming together to make the most beautiful of constellations and decorate the sky with drawings of beasts and men. The animals below said beautiful sky slept peacefully, knowing that there was nothing to fear for they were in a safe place. The crickets sang their strange little melody, the only sounds from outside as far as one could hear.

All things considered, you actually like living in a ranch. It's peaceful here, with only your family and the animals to worry about.

You've... Somehow gotten used to the idea of "family". You blame your Human memories for that particular feat. The human Zahhaks were always very close to one another, always had each other's back and held infinite respect for both the elders and the younger ones. Although give been Human for less than a week, a mixture of these memories of warm hugs and kind hands teaching you to do stuff paired with the last few days is what got you to the conclusion that _yes,_ you do like living here and _yes,_ you've come into terms that these candy red-blooded furless apes are precious to you, and you're one of them too.

It's different. It's _nothing_ like Alternia or your 'past life'. At the same time, _it's always been like this._

Two sets of memories tell two different stories.

You wonder how you are even able to deduce which is the closest to 'authentic'.

_Are you a human with troll memories? Are you a troll thrown into a human world?_

You stiffle a groan with your pillow. You're _not_ used to staying up late.

You are now Equius Zahhak, although there has never been a time in which you weren't you... You think. _Argh!_ this is all making your head hurt! You make a conscious effort to stop thinking about the difficult stuff for a moment, just so you won't have a headache when you arrive at the meeting place.

Speaking of which, it's almost time.

You sit up on your bed and with slow, careful steps, you make your way to the wardrobe on the other side of the room. It's a painfully slow process, to open the doors and pick clothes without making a sound as to not wake up your father and brother, but in the end, it's necessary. It's not like you're willing to go meet people while wearing pajamas! Your moirail's sister and a fuschia blood nonetheless!

 _Your moirail's sister..._ Humans don't have moirails, and you and Nelida, although incredibly close, aren't dating. Just what are you two?

You decide to file this question in the 'ponder later' section of your mental archive. There's other, more important stuff to think about at the moment, like making sure everyone's asleep before going out.

Although you have just finished tying your shoelaces, you close your eyes and change to your god-tier clothes. Still with your eyes closed, you let yourself dissolve into Void, your physical body slowly disappearing and within seconds, it's like you're not there at all. Like you've never been in the first place.

You would say that you opened your eyes, but you don't have them anymore. You're Heir Of Void. You embody void. You _are_ void.

You 'move' across the room. While like this, there is no need to touch anything, and you pass through walls like they were nothing, not making a single disturbance, like _they_ were nothing. The irony is not lost on you.

First, you check on your father. His room is quite far from yours, but being able to walk through walls makes everything way faster than ever before. The house is silent and dark, and shadows seem to dance around you as you move. The windows are closed, but the curtains are wide open, making any late-night business easier to you or your relatives. Silent as ever, you make your way into your father's room, regardless of the closed door.

Just as expected, your father is in deep slumber, his indigo blue blanket pulled up to his neck and long black hair free from the ponytail at last. You watch for a few moments as his chest rises and lowers with each breath he takes, his eyes closed and mouth slightly ajar in an expression of pure peace. All is right in the world. You 'close' your eyes and just stand there, an empty presence in the middle of the bedroom as you listen to your Ancestor breathe.

You miss Aurthuor, you really do. He was a great lusus and a respectable butler, but you also love the human known as Horace Zahhak.

A father and a lusus. Aren't they the same thing? Why do you feel guilty for being as close to this man as you were with Aurthuor?

...

After that particular moment, you went through the motions of checking on your brother and teleporting to Meulin's apartment as numbly as one could get, and before you knew it, you were already knocking on her door, back with a physical body and the civilian clothes you switched to before coming here. Just as you realized on the absurdity of knocking on a _deaf_ person's door, said door opened to reveal shocking ginger hair and bespectacled teal eyes. Latula smiled at you.

" 'Sup lil Zahhak, come in, Meulin's in the kitchen."

You enter the apartment, not really able to stop yourself from looking around. It's small but very cozy, with soft browns and greens all over the place. The room is lit by a single bright lamp in the ceiling, giving everything a warm glow that just seems to pull you in and embrace you. There is a large bookshelf in a corner of the room and a big and well-loved green chair in the other corner. A small wooden coffee table sits in the middle of the room, filled with cat scratches and partially covered by a white piece of fabric with flowers along its borders, and a beige sofa pushed up to a wall, with a table supporting a single healthy potted plant next to it. You smell the telltale aroma of hot cocoa from the kitchen as you sit down and look at the pictures on the walls.

Leonor Leijon bares a striking resemblance to her older daughter, as is to be expected from an Ancestor and their Post-scratch self. In the pictures, you can see a smiling younger Melaine, which changes and grows older with each little framed photograph. Occasionally, there is another girl, with smooth olive skin and large round innocent green eyes, her short brown hair framing her face just as you remember. Nelida Leijon, although a few years older than you, has always been Ethan's (and technically, yours too) childhood crush. However, the Nelida you see in those pictures are younger, just about your age. _Just like Nepeta was._

Before you can go on another 'existential crisis', as you just decided to call them, Meulin comes into the room. She seems startled to see you, but quickly recovers and greets you with a small smile. She sets a tray on the coffee table and signs something to Latula, who answers by shaking her head.

You eye the tray in curiosity. Just as you suspected, there are four cups of steaming hot cocoa and a few triangle sandwiches with ham, cheese, and lettuce sticking out. They look delicious, and as you are about to pick one up, there is frantic knocking on the door. Latula gets up once again, and Meulin eyes her with intrigue before her eyes widen in realization.

Opening the door, a disheveled Feferi comes into view. You couldn't help but notice how her clothes were a bit more casual than the usual, with short jeans and a pink sweatshirt with a bubble print, with her hair was done in a messy ponytail, and judging by all of that and the fact that she was panting, you could assume that she rushed here without much thought on appearance. Unusual. While she isn't the vainest troll out there, she always makes sure she looks at least presentable, and not hastily put together, like tonight.

"I'm... _*pant*_ So sorry, It... It took my mom some- _*huff*_ convincing for her to let me come here..." She entered the apartment and closed the door behind her. "I kinda thought I wasn't going to come, so I was gonna send you guys a message, but Meenah helped me."

Latula smiled. "That's alright, at least you're here." The redhead turned around and-

"M-make, yyoourselve...sh at... hoomee..."

You almost choked on ham.

Melaine Leijon spoke.

You've heard _Meulin_ speak before. You've talked to her many times in the dreambubbles before, and even with the high pitch, she spoke perfectly and both of you were able to understand each other just fine. _But this._

Melaine Leijon was born completely deaf. Her vocal cords worked perfectly, but little of what she said was comprehensible, and even after looking for professional help to better her speech, the girl decided to use sign language and written notes to talk to people.

And yet, right here and now, Meulin spoke, just as she'd done many times before. Right here and now, Melaine uttered what could very well be her first words.

"Meuz, _dude._ " Latula was just as flabbergasted, and Feferi simply stood there, her eyes wide open. Slowly, Latula's surprised expression turned ecstatic. "Your first words as Melaine! Haha!"

Meulin smiled, and Feferi clapped her hands while laughing. You couldn't help but smile too. It was silly, especially because you know Meulin can speak just fine, but seeing _Melaine_ speak, for some unknown reason, made you surprised and joyful. _Human memories_ is the excuse you settle for.

A few minutes later and the room's atmosphere is as welcoming as it can get. Had you four not been in this together, you don't think you would know each other as much, but as you sit there, sandwich in one hand and hot cocoa on the other, you realize that _this isn't so bad._ Feferi is just as carefree as you remember, Latula tells the most interesting stories and jokes, and Meulin is similar enough to Nepeta to make your chest warm, but not enough to make it hurt.

You are here to plan for the future, but you welcome moments like this. Especially after those thoughts about your Ancestor and lusus.

Unfortunately, some things must be done. You clear your throat.

"I'm afraid we must begin discussing about... Say, where we should _actually_ be taking all the conversations to. The walls have ears, and I reckon meeting up in an apartment every time we must talk is quite... Crass- Your home is beautiful, Meulin! But I don't think this is the best place to be at in times like this."

Latula nods, a pondering look on her face. "Yeah, but... I don't think any of our houses are available for this stuff. Mine's got the same problem as Meulin's, and you and Feferi live with family. And it's not like we can just talk about it in public either."

"Isn't there a forest in the outskirts of the city? Maybe we could go there, I mean, it's pretty excluded, while also being outside..." Meulin's voice had lost its 'accent' as time went on, and now her voice sounded just like how it was in the dreambubbles.

"Maybe, but it would be uncomfortable as hell," Latula said. "I mean _it is_ a forest, it's not like there's gonna be a random house in the middle of it for us to use."

The room is silent for a few seconds as everyone thought. By now, the sandwiches Meulin made were gone, and the hot cocoa has gone cold. Meulin taps her finger along the mug absently and Feferi looks around. For a bit. You would never admit you jumped When she abruptly got up.

She walked to the bookshelf in the corner as the others watched her. It didn't have many books, and was mostly filled with trinkets and even more framed photos. She reached in and grabbed... Something. You couldn't see what it was from the angle you were in.

"Fefurry...?" Meulin asked, and you clenched your fists at the oh-so-familiar cat pun. "What are you doing?"

She turned around with a smile. It was one of _those_ smiles, the creepy ones that usually showed a mouth full of shark-like teeth and scared the living daylights out of people. A shiver ran down your spine.

... She was holding a bag of seeds. The same ones from Meulin's potted plant, from what you could see.

"I think I know exactly what to do."

* * *

The TV shined with bright colors, bathing the room in soft, gentle light. The cartoons displayed in it had characters with absurd proportions and eye-catching pallets, fit for children to love and grow attached to, for them to memorize and never forget. The volume was set low, for it was late and the boy watching didn't want to disturb the other habitant of the house.

Although it was only Wednesday, James Egbert allowed his son to watch cartoons until late, for the boy had done good in his math test and deserved a little treat.

Said boy, John Egbert, although enraptured by the show on the TV, was getting dowsey with sleep, his eyes blinking more and more as minutes passed and his head bobbing up and down in irregular intervals. The young boy was clearly fighting to stay awake at this hour of the night. You wonder if he will be able to pull all-nighters when he grows up. You never got the chance to know.

At last, the boys father emerged from his study. He had been working late, and thankfully was allowed to work from home, so he could take care of his son while not getting fired. You remember how he used to do that. 

… You don't really like thinking of him as yours.

Because he isn't.

"John, it's getting quite late, don't you think?" Mr Egbert asked, his voice soft as he approached his beloved son. True to his words, the clock on the wall was displaying how close to midnight it was. You were certain that both the boy and his father will regret staying up so late tomorrow, when they both will have to wake up at seven in the morning.

The boy, however, didn't seem to think so. "But daaaaaad. You said I could stay up as long as I wanted…" his sentence ended with a yawn.

James chuckled, slowly and gently lifting the boy up bridal style and carefully taking him up the stairs. You drifted behind them, floating a few feet away from the ground and white eyes fixated on the man's back as he took the boy to his room.

When the father was sure his son was tucked in properly, he went to his own room to rest for the night. You stayed outside as the man changed to his night clothes, and waited until you heard soft snores coming from the room to go in.

You sit on the floor, next to the man's bed, and watch him sleep.

It's creepy. You know it is. Yet you can't stop doing this.

You know he's not your father. You don't know what happened to your _real_ father, but this man has his own son, which is not you.

You were hesitant at first, living in denial and in hopes that one day, you would be seen. One day, James Egbert would look at you, smile, and say _welcome home, son!_

These hopes were slowly crushed as days went on.

A sob escapes your mouth before you can stop it. That's alright. No one's here to hear other than your own ears.

You missed him so much. He doesn't even know you exist.

Your name is JOHN EGBERT, and you were killed by TYPHEUS in a DOOMED TIMELINE. You're a GHOST.

No one can see you.

No one can hear you.

No one knows you're there.

You're FORGOTTEN.

You're ALONE.

You sit next to your NOT-FATHER'S bed, and as you listen to him snore, you quietly weep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I fucked up Spade's and Droog's characterization, Melaine's speech too :(
> 
> Deaf people speak with an "accent" (I don't know what to call it), and I just imagined what it would sound like for Meu/Mel. On one hand, Meulin can speak just fine. On the other, Melaine doesn't have the muscle memory.
> 
> I gotta say, originally, the Crew wasn't supposed to be in this chapter, but you guys loved it so much I just couldn't help myself! I tried to incorporate the crew's quirks (Spades with no punctuation or capital letters, Droog with perfect grammar), but I just couldn't help myself sometimes, I just added and commas and some punctuation to Spade's lines ;w;
> 
> I've been meaning to write the seed scene ever since I chose Fef as part of the main cast! It was originally supposed to be on her POV, but we haven't had much of Equius in a while, eh?
> 
> Doomed John. Enough said. *Throws angst at reader*  
>  ~~I feel like I'm bad at writing angst. What did you guys think?~~


	10. Ghost Stories In Hauntswitch's Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The woods near Hauntswitch were always a little creepy. Which makes it the perfect place to go camping in for your 14th birthday!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS SUPER LATE I'M SORRY  
> I've been struggling with school and my other fic, as well as my new job, so I didn't have the time to write this ;w;  
> Also, sorry if the characterization feels off, I haven't played Hiveswap act 1 in over a year :0
> 
> ALSO!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Friday, April 19th. Morning.

"-And so, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was formed between Germany and the USSR, which wasn't a peace treaty _per se,_ but a treaty of non-aggression, a "let's agree to disagree" pact. After that, Hitler invaded France and-"

"Ate some french ass!"

The class exploded into rancorous laughter as the teacher glared at the interrupting student. It was far from the first time class was interrupted in such a manner, and everyone doubted it would be the last. Just as the teacher opened his mouth to retort and resume his lecture, the bell rang, signaling the end of classes for the day. Following everyone's example- no reason to stay behind after all- you packed all of your stuff and marched out of the classroom. Tuning the noise out with your headphones, you began striding down the hallways with a purpose.

Said purpose being: meeting up with your best bro and a certain pair of teachers, then going home and pack up your shit for the most awesome weekend of your life, the most daring of adventures, the wildest of nights, the-

Alright that's enough. Your name is DAMIEN CERVID, and about a year ago, your former babysitter and now science teacher, JUDE HARLEY, promised that for your 14th birthday, he would take you and your best friend, XAVIER TRITOH, for a night camping in the HAUNTSWITCH WOODS, along with his sister, the school's dance teacher JOEY CLAIRE.

And oh boy are you excited.

Hauntswitch Woods, the forest surrounding the small countryside town of Hauntswitch, was infamous for being... Well, _haunted by the ghost of a witch,_ as its name implies. When you were younger, you were absolutely _fascinated_ with the stories adults and older kids would tell you, always wanting to know more and more, even at the cost of having nightmares when trying to sleep.

Oh, you've been in those woods before, but only _barely._ You've never left your dad's line of sight, you've always kept to the beaten path and as much as you wanted not to, and never really, _truly,_ entered the woods. This changes tonight.

You spot some dark red in your peripheral vision, and sure enough, you turn around to see your bro Xavier, in all his dorky glory, wearing a red _sweater_ of all things. Seriously, cool kids don't wear _sweaters._ And you thought you were making progress in turning him into a cool kid. Sigh.

"The fuck is up with the sweater?" You decide to ask as you approach him.

He turns around, and just as you suspected, the dork is as red as a tomato.

"Hi Damien," He mumbles. "Uh... Miss Claire gave it to me. She said it looked great on me, so I decided to wear today..."

"... It's spring."

Xavier grimaces, and as of to further prove your point, he fidgets with the sweater's collar, stretching it from his neck. "Yeah... But it's ok! I like it!"

The two of you continue to walk through the hallways, without really much to talk about. You're excited about the camping trip this evening, and you don't think you were able to keep the eagerness off your voice when talking about it. That's alright. You don't mind sharing your feelings with Xav. You've known him since you were babies, and you would trust him with your deepest secrets, and even your _life_ if needed.

When you get to the school gates, you are met with the two adults you were looking for. Mr. Harley, although scrawny, was tall and easy enough to spot in the crowd. You've seen pictures of his dad the times you went over to his house, and you're pretty sure he's the source of the tall gene in the family. Ms. Claire, Although two years older than her younger brother, is about an inch or so shorter, but with an athletic body due to her job as a dance teacher.

They were your and Xav's babysitters once upon a time. You gotta admit that not much has changed since then. Other than, you know, growing up and all.

"Excited for tonight?" Ms. Claire asked with a grin.

"You bet it, Claire."

"Ugh!" She groaned. "We've already talked about this! You guys can just call me Joey!"

Indeed, the two of you had numerous talks about calling Claire by her first name. However, it has always been a hobby of yours to try your damn best to irk her, and with years of experience, you could say you are freaking good at it. If only she hadn't developed an immunity.

"And how are _you_ doing, boy?"

You turn to face Harley, who was previously talking with Xavier. You'd say you get along with him well enough, with him being the one you usually spend time with the most. When you were younger, the two of you would spend _hours_ just talking about supernatural lore and conspiracy theories, the two things you like the most... Other than guns, of course. He's the one who presented you to the concept of aliens anyway, so you blame him for all the space paraphernalia in your room. Good times.

"What, did you forget my name? Damn Jude, someone's getting old."

A few laughs are shared, along with a _'hey!'_ from Jude. The group gets to the adult's car with small talk, ready to go to the Harley manor (previously Harley-Claire, but Joey moved out and into her own apartment many years ago) and at last start this trip. As the car rolls through the town, building passing by you with high speed, you look out the window and to the beautiful clear blue sky.

You grin.

Today is gonna be awesome.

* * *

"-And remember, she has a sweet tooth, so even when she insists on eating only cookies, you must not relent under the power of the adorable puppy eyes-"

 _"Yes,_ Mr. Harley, this isn't the first time I've babysat her!"

 _"Paaaaa,_ can I _please_ go with yooooou-"

Your group was now leaving Jude's house, with the very last but most important preparation being made. Jude's daughter, a green-eyed little girl fittingly named Jade, obviously couldn't be taken with them to the woods, having turned 8 years old only a few months back.

Jade was, however, very adventurous and stubborn.

_"But pa..."_

"Jade, sweetie," Jude kneeled in front of his daughter. "We've already been through this. You're too young _now,_ but in a few years, I'll take you through the woods just like I'm doing with Damien and Xavier, alright?"

Jade pouted. "But a few years is too long! I'm gonna be a grandma by then!"

Jude and the babysitter _-a high school girl who you've seen around school a few times, but never actually talked to-_ both chuckled at that, the girl carding her fingers through Jade's hair and muttering _'sure you will'._

"So, now that she's taken care of, how about we just start this already?" Claire asked, impatiently tapping her foot on the pavement for emphasis.

"Okay, Okay! No need to rush, we have the whole afternoon ahead of us!"

* * *

The car ride to the main road through the woods was short, considering how close the manor was to it. When you were younger and liked to spend the afternoon at Harley's, you used to think it was actually _part_ of the forest, because of the proximity and the amount of greenery that surrounded it.

The walk to the closest camping spot was, however, long and exhausting.

It's been about 30 minutes since the walk started, but you are already sweating and it feels like your shoulders may just bend under the weight of the bag you're carrying. Unfortunately, there are another 20 minutes until you arrive, and you honest to God think you'll be close to death by then.

"I..." You pant. "Have so many regrets."

"Oh please, stop being dramatic. It'll be worth it when we arrive." Says Harley, who is sweating just as much as you.

"Besides, there's a stream near the place we'll be staying!" Claire exclaims. As a PE teacher and part-time ballet dancer, she has more than enough stamina to completely humiliate the rest of you. She didn't even falter as she spoke.

The comment made Xavier light up. "Will we be able to swim on the stream?"

"Yup! I haven't been there in a year, but I'm pretty sure the water is just as clear. I gotta warn you though, there's a few small fish. Just the tiny ones that can't do anything."

The group continues to walk in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds coming from the wind playing with the trees around them and their harsh breathing. A few moments passed like this until Xavier broke the silence with a question.

"How deep is this forest? I mean, I have no idea where it ends."

"Actually, the hauntswitch woods are so big they end near _another_ city. How cool is that?" Says Harley.

"Woah, hold up. Another city?" You can't keep the skepticism out of your voice.

"Yup! Ansbridge to be more exact." Harley answers. "Here's a little fun fact: they were originally going to build a road from Hauntswitch to there cutting through this forest, but don't difficulties rose up, combined with a group of locals who wanted to preserve the forest. The project was abandoned and they could a road circling the forest instead."

"Oh fuck, are You kidding me? The long-ass drive to Ansbridge could be cut short through here? Damn." You say.

Xavier turns to Claire, a curious expression on his face. "What sort of difficulties they encountered? Surely if they were big enough to stop the project, aren't they going to be dangerous for us?"

Claire chuckles lowly as she pats Xavier's shoulder. "Not so soon, we'll leave the ghost stories to when we set up camp."

"Ghost stories...?" You can see him tense up, even from your distance.

"C'mon, Xav, it'll be fun." You say with a grin.

"I know! It's just..."

Claire seems to have caught up on Xavier's dampening mood and quickly changes the conversation. "So... Superheroes, right?"

Xavier lights up like a Christmas tree. "Yeah! It was so cool! That Latula lady seemed really nice, and the other ones were so badass."

"I prefer that heart girl. _She_ was awesome." You grin. From the moment you saw her, you knew she was most likely the one in the group who got shit done. She was fighting non-stop, focused on nothing but kicking ass. You like her a lot.

Claire seems to disagree. "Meh, she was a bit too violent for me." She shrugs. "I think the one with healing powers was pretty neat though. I heard she resurrected a little girl."

"Hm, even with superpowers, I think that rumor is exaggerated," said Harley. "I mean, the kid was probably just really hurt, but not dead. Although, it _would_ be cool to be able to bring people back to life. _Imagine the possibilities."_

After that, Harley got a dreamy look on his face, and Claire stiffened. Surprisingly, she wasn't the one to interfere, however. It was Xavier.

"Uh, if we were to do any experiments with them, consent would be needed first. I mean," He paused, a troubled expression washing over his face. "If _I_ were the one with superpowers, I wouldn't like it if someone just... Decided to test the limits of my powers. Without having my permission."

Harley had a mildly panicked look on his face, and despite the serious context of it, you made sure to remember the look on his face for you to laugh at later. It was a funny and weird expression. "Well," He started. "You're right. I wasn't trying to imply anything, it's just- uh... If they someday agree to showcase their powers to the public and allow experimentation, it would be a great idea to test that girl's healing abilities. That's it, I didn't, uh." He faltered.

You chuckle and slap him on the back. Despite your size difference, he stumbles. "Don't worry dude, we know you got good intentions." You grin. "' sides, it's fun to embarrass you."

Harley goes red at that, and Claire is laughing hard in the background along with Xavier. And just like that, the atmosphere is playful once again, and the group continues to trek through the woods.

* * *

Your name is now JUDE HARLEY, and it is nighttime.

Although everyone was tired from the long 1 hour-long walk to the camping spot, the promise of going to swim in the stream once they were finished kept them going, and in 30 minutes all two tents were set up, along with some protection from wildlife and a small campfire in the middle. Overall, it looks pretty sweet if you do say so yourself.

As hours passed, the four of you explored a bit of the forest, always staying near the camp. Damien was, unfortunately for this situation, the adventurous type, and Xavier, the poor boy, might as well have been a wallflower in Damien's life. Ever since they were kids and you and Joey babysat them, you've always had the impression that he wouldn't be the type to voice his opinion much. Lo and behold, the boy now follows orders like an obedient dog. It's a habit that infuriates your sister, but try as she might, not much has changed.

The stream was only deep enough to reach your knees, but it wasn't any less fun than you expected. Just as promised, the water was so clear you could see the bottom of it, which added to the beauty of the scene. Besides, you don't think Damien's girlish scream as a small fish darted between his legs will ever _not_ be funny.

But now, the excitement of the day is catching up to everyone. You're still kinda sore from the walk, and you don't hesitate to crash near the fire, where there's already some s'mores in the making. There are crickets in the shrubs behind you, and there was the occasional bee or fly, but other than that, the forest doesn't seem all that alive, which... Unnerves you, to be honest. You expected raccoons or even some birds, but other than insects, the forest is almost... Dead.

Someone sits beside you, diverting your thoughts from worry. It's your sister. Joey picks up one of the s'mores sticks and turns it around so that the chocolate can melt on the other side too. She does the same for the rest and the two of you sit in peaceful silence for a while. It's been a while since you've had moments like this with your sister. Usually, you two see each other at school in meetings or in the teacher's room, so you rarely ever really have moments to just be in each other's presence, not really doing anything other than existing.

When you were younger and still had to worry about whether or not you would have adult supervision the following day or if you would have to eat takeout for the 4th time this week, you and Joey used to spend time in your backyard stargazing. Usually, you had your old dog, Tesseract (oh, how you miss the old sport. Shame dogs have such short lifespan), laying next to you, or with her head on your chest while you petted her. Sometimes, the three of you would play, Tess's active and playful personality taking over whatever games you played and leaving you and Joey (mostly you, though) breathless.

Your old treehouse is still there, even though you don't really spend time there anymore. It's probably full of cobwebs and dust. Your conspiracy theory posters and paraphernalia are also still there, unused and forgotten. You freed your doves long ago, and from time to time, when you happen to catch sight of the treehouse from the windows, you like to think they traveled far and had lots of fun. If birds can even have fun, that is.

Your sister has already started eating a s'more by the time Xavier and Demien come back. To your surprise, they don't look as dirty as you'd expect. "Found anything interesting?" You ask.

"There were some cool rocks and weird trees, but other than that, it was kinda lame." Demien shrugs.

"Well, not knowing what is out there is enough to keep things interesting." Says your sister, not looking up from her s'more. "Even if you didn't find anything noteworthy."

"I guess."Damien murmurs.

You all sit on a circle and start eating. The boys talk about what they found while exploring the woods, and much to your dismay, it seems they couldn't find any animals either. It's almost like the critters are avoiding this place, which is ridiculous. You can't think of any reasons why the animals would go further into the forest other than maybe being scared by larger predators, and you don't remember hearing about bear or wolf sightings in here. In fact, the _lack_ of large animal sightings is the reason why you agreed to bring the boys in the first place. You wouldn't take them here if there was the risk of them getting hurt.

But speaking of scary monsters...

"Joey? Didn't you say something about ghost stories this afternoon?" You say once Damien finishes retelling the tale of the ''tree that looked like a butt''.

A smile graces Joey's face. It's not a warm smile. In fact, it's more of a smirk. Xavier sighs and Damien perks up. "That's right," your sister says. "I _did_ say we would tell them here, didn't I?"

She shifts her posture so that she's standing straighter (and taller) than everyone else. With the frigid air on your back and the heat of the fire in front of you, under the dark sky filled with stars now that the light of the city is far away, it really does seem like the type to tell a ghost story. You can't stop yourself from huddling a bit closer to the fire, and a bit to the side so that you're sitting in front of her rather than next to.

"It is said that long ago, in this very forest, there roamed beasts nowadays unheard of and unseen by many," She started. "They were huge monsters, bigger than elephants, which were able to swallow you whole with one single bite and rip you apart with a small swipe of a claw." She opened her arms wide and made "claws" with her hands. "They were the rulers of the forest. Standing unchallenged and righteously prideful. They set fear into enemies' hearts and roared in the face of danger. But then again, when you're _that_ powerful, do you really have anything to be afraid of? 

"However, one day, on a day like no other, a new challenger appeared to face the beasts. It was a hideous monster, who hid in the dark to strike when you least expect. The creature was bigger than any previously seen monster, and with a bigger appetite...

"The creature and the monsters clashed in a battle that could be heard and felt for miles. They never stopped, going on for days on end. At last, the creature had enough. It opened it _big_ smile and let out a deafening scream, so loud it not _just_ destroyed the monsters. It completed _obliterated_ them.

"Enraged by having lost the battle, the ghosts of the fallen monsters banded together one last time, and with the advantage of not having a corporeal form, banished the Creature to the core of the Earth, where it lays still, in deep slumber. To this day, the ghost of the monsters town the Hauntswitch forest, still standing tall and unchallenged, only this time, unable to be seen by others."

The fire continues to crack as silence falls over the camp. Joey looks expectantly at her audience, hand clasped in front of her. The s'mores are long gone, and the group just sits there without really saying anything. And then,

"That was actually pretty lame," says Damien. "And cliché. I'm disappointed, Claire."

Joey gasps dramatically, slapping the back of her hand on her forehead and flopping down on the dirt. "How dare you. I'll have you know I thought hard about this tale. I am Insulted."

Xavier chuckles, and just as you are about to answer _(but you gotta admit, it was pretty cliché. Big monster fights? Seriously?),_ a loud sound comes from behind you.

You'll never admit it, but you may have jumped a foot into the air. All heads snap in the direction of the noise, just in time to see a bush on the border of the clearing move. Tiny branches snap, the sound loud and clear over that crack of fire. You're tense, and you bet if you were to look behind you, your sister would be, too. You think back to the emergency knife you have stashed away in your backpack.

After what feels like an eternity, the bush stops moving, staying as still as everyone else. Hesitantly, you slowly move your feet a bit closer to it, which actually turns out to be a bad idea because there _is something dartING OUT OF IT-_

You scream and almost fall down on your butt. You can hear sharp breaths and a _"Woah there"_ behind you. You look at the culprit of the scare.

A small squirrel, its cheeks stuffed with food, slowly blinks up at you.

Xavier lets out a sigh and a lowly chuckle. "Well, that was... Something."

Now relaxed, you nod in agreement. Jeez, this thing almost gave you a heart attack-

A gigantic white maw darts from behind the bush, completely engulfing the squirrel as the sound of breaking bones fills the air. Blood is sprayed on the floor as the small critter screams, the sound silenced after a few shakes of the beast's jaws.

You hear someone choke on air behind you, and you can relate to the feeling.

There is a lioness in from of you. It can't be anything else. It sticks out like a sore thumb, its fur is snowy, reflecting the light of the campfire in a circle of soft white around it, giving the beast an almost ethereal glow. It's a tad smaller than you initially thought it would be, bigger than a wolf big smaller than an actual lion. Its head was bowed down, the squirrel's bright red blood still dripping on the grass. The only sound around the clearing was the human's nervous breathing and the lioness' shallow breaths. And then, it looked up.

Two mouths. The lower one which held the mangled squirrel, the upper one which occasionally twitched along with its nose, delicate whiskers, moving around as it sniffed the air. The... _Thing_ blinked up at them, mild interest in its gaze.

A large green _(Green. What the actual fuck)_ tongue poked out of the feline's mouth, and your brain is kick-started back into action.

"Don't turn your backs against it," You whispered. "Felines, especially the big ones, have an instinct to attack creatures if they're turned away from them. Joey-"

"I know." She answered, voice tense. "I remember some of Pa's lessons."

Right. Okay. Just as you are about to refer to the kids, the monster lets out a loud huffing noise through its nose, turning around and walking back into the forest unceremoniously, having lost interest in the group of humans. You're caught off-guard by its seemingly careless actions, you stay still until if fully trots out of view, its shining coat somehow blending perfectly into the darkness of the forest.

"... Huh." You say absentmindedly. "It-It just... _Left??"_

"Apparently, yeah." Answered Damien, who still was still looking at the tree line as if the lioness was going to jump out of it again a second time, which, fair worry, actually.

"What the ever loving fuck was _that???"_ Asks Joey in a shrill voice. "It- It had two mouths, and, and, a fucking lion _here??_ a _glowing albino lion??"_

"Was that a green tongue...?" Xavier looks pale, and ironically, quite green himself.

"We're leaving."

You're surprised by how steady and certain your voice sounds. You certainly don't feel very steady. Damien turns in your direction, but before he can say anything, Xavier voices his opinion.

"We can't stay here." He says, voice as strong almost yours. When Damien seems to turn his indignation towards him instead, he keeps his ground. "What if that thing comes back?! We're in _danger,_ Damien. We can't stay here."

You quickly glance at Joey, noting her troubled expression. She still hasn't stopped looking at where the monster disappeared into. Damien lets out a small growl, but doesn't really says anything. He clenches his fists at his side. You walk up to him and gently put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry chap, we can come again another day, when... _This_ is solved."

"The fuck are we gonna do?" He says through clenched teeth. "Who will believe us? A white lion with two mouths and a green tongue walking around in the woods killing squirrels. Fucking amazing story if you ask me."

This makes you stop. Yeah, it doesn't really sound that believable. "Well, even if we can't really do anything about it, one thing's for sure: we can't stay the night."

Damien stays quiet at that, and after one last glance into the forest, he sighs and turns away, heading to his tent and taking out the items inside, begrudgingly packing them in his travelling bag. The others follow suit with little to no words exchanged.

It's only after you're done packing and walking down the trail you came from that a thought strikes you.

_The only reason why the animals would go farther into the forest was if it was scared away by a larger predator._

* * *

You tread through the thick forest with relative ease. You've been here for a few days already, and you've gotten used to the woods. After all, you wouldn't be an _apex purredator_ if you weren't adaptable.

Your name is POUCE DE LEON, and you just caught yourself a nice meal. Well, it's smaller than you would like, but it tastes good and is a meal none the less. You're satisfied with the result of this hunt, even if the journey to get to said result was... Interesting.

You wonder what _those_ were. They looked like trolls, but had no horns and their skin colors were different shades of brown and pink instead of the usual grey. You put your guard up when you noticed the female (you _think_ it was female) had blue eyes, but in the end, it wasn't really needed. They were more scared of you than you were scared of them, poor things. You decided to abscond and leave them for their devices.

__

You climb down a small hill, pouncing (hah!) From place to place until you reach its bottom. There, you turn left and dart between some vines and rocks, before at last reaching your destination.

The cave you chose as shelter for the past few nights is big, much bigger than your quaint little home on Beforus with your little Meulin. But then again, if it were any smaller, Ms Pyralspite might not have been very comfortable staying here. She's just so tall!

Your upper mouth mewls a small greeting to Aurthour, who is sitting in a few feet away from the fire, in a bed of large leaves. He gives you a short snort as greetings and goes back to eating some round red fruits which grow on trees and you don't know the name of. You set on tearing the meat of your prey from its bones, and the two of you sit in comfortable silence.

It was strange, at first. The three of you didn't know each other, and were untrustful. Everyone would be if they woke up in a strange world full of weird flora and fauna, with only two other fellow lusii as company. You especially, for you've never really gotten along with highblood lusii at all. But as time passed , you couldn't help but sympathise with the others as you desperately looked for your wriggler, and in the end, decided to band together through these hard times.

Besides, they aren't so bad! Pyralspite is friendly despite her scary appearance, and Aurthour is incredibly polite, even with such a difference in your blood castes. It's a nice partnership your group has, even if a weird one. Three lusii from three completely different blood castes banding together to survive in an unknown world. Sounds like a story Meulin would find amusing.

Strong winds come from the entrance of the cave, and a few seconds later, Pyralspite wiggles in. It's a tight fit for her to enter, but once she's inside, she can move a bit more freely. You and Aurthour greet her in your respective ways, taking care to avoid looking at her eyes. She croons and tilts her head, a sign which you interpret as "is everything alright?/are you okay,?". You meow and lift your tail as "yes", and Aurthour simply nods politely. She lays on her side and rests her large head, easily big enough to swallow you whole in a single bite, on her front claws and sighs, deep and steamy. A few stalactites had to be broken to allow for her comfort, but the result was a nice resting place for all of you.

You finish your meal and throw the bones in the "bone corner" as you've taken o calling it. Your curl on yourself and relax, letting the action of the day catch up to you slowly falling asleep. It's been harder and harder finding food lately, with the animals burrowing deeper into the forest, but that's alright. A hunter must be very resourceful, and you're sure you'll survive.

* * *

Deep inside the ocean, a lone whale swims peacefully.

A large white tentacle reaches out and _pulls,_ the whale crying out in distress as it was quickly moved down, down, and down.

It was thrown inside a large beak, stained with multicolored blood from years before and recent bright red blotches, from sea creatures similar to this one.

She swallows.

She pauses.

She is still hungry.

She seeks more food.

* * *

Wiping the sweat off her brow, Feferi smiles.

A Witch Of Life has the power to bend the rules of life to her own desire. This provides limitless possibilities of pretty much _everything_ involving organic matter. To make a plant grow faster than it needs to? No problem! To make said plant grow _larger_ than it possibly can? No problem!

To make a gigantic hollow tree with enough space on the inside to house four individuals and whatever else they might want to bring, as well as furniture, made out of the same wood from the tree?

NO PROBLEM!

The tree-house is now complete, and Feferi did a pretty good job if she does say so herself. It is wide, with branches sprawling out in every direction, some so thin one could easily snap it with their own hands, others so thick multiple people could stand and walk on them with no fear of falling. The roots at the base of the tree are large and hugged the ground around the trunk, small flowers and moss growing around them as though the tree had been sitting there for years. Amongst the mess of roots, there was a not-so-little gap that anyone could walk into just fine, the tree trunk strangely flat in that particular session, without even the barest hint of a splinter. The top of the tree was covered in large lush green leaves, which probably stood out like a sore thumb if one were to look at the forest from above… Well, that problem can be solved.

Latula and Equius landed on the floor near Feferi, having just finished their task of masking the tree. Using void powers, Equius is capable of making the tree fade from an outsider’s view, with Latula leaving temporary “charms” of mind around it to further keep the illusion that there is nothing there. It isn’t the best defense, neither classpects were correct to properly make this work, and it would need to be fortified once every few days, but it’ll do for now.

Meulin didn’t really have much to do, for heart powers weren’t really needed in making and defending the treehouse, but she stayed and helped when she was able to. In the end, all four of them stood in awe over their new base, Feferi and Equius getting a vague feeling of deja-vu, the feeling similar from when they watched a certain universe-frog be created. It wasn’t as grand or fantastical as a new universe, but it looked great and would be able to accommodate them, which was enough.

“Well, this is it." Latula murmured. “Let’s open it up!”

“… That’s a strange way of wording it.” Says Equius.

Feferi giggles, then marches to the part of the tree where the roots part and the trunk touches the ground seamlessly. Gently laying her hands on the trunk, she closes her eyes and taps on her Life powers for the nth time this afternoon. The wood shifts below her hands, and when she opens her eyes once more, the wood had turned into a nice big pair of doors, flowers carved in it along some with the Life, Mind, Heart and Void symbols.

"Cool." Murmurs Latula. Meulin stays quiet, but walks up to the door and gives it a light push, revealing the inside of the tree.

There is still stuff to be done, but overall, it's pretty. There are windows in the upper part of the trunk, with pieces of wood placed horizontally and vertically to avoid having animals inside. There is a large round table on the middle of the room, with chairs placed around it, and some shelves in the walls. There's a staircase which leads to the first floor, a simple shared bedroom for the four of them. The beds need actual matresses, pillows and covers, but it's a start.

"The only problem will be lighting," Says Meulin. She's gotten used to speaking by now, only the slighted hind of an accent. "I mean, I don't think we can get electricity here, and candles will be risky since, y'know, fire hazard."

"We could bring flashlights." Says Latula. "We'll just need to charge them often, but still." She pauses and looks thorough one of the windows. Then, she smirks. "I bet it's real pretty up in those branches." Her smile falters a little. "If you need me, I'll be up there."

* * *

You are now EQUIUS ZAHHAK, and you place a large piece of wood down on the floor upright, before bringing your foot down and stomping on it with as much force as you can.

It swivels a little, but doesn't break.

You sigh through your nose and shifts it so that it is laying horizontally, and stomp strongly again. Your foot is starting to hurt.

It barely moves. It's like it's mocking you.

You take a sharp breath and suppress a groan, leaning back on the tree bark and resting your head on your hands. Gog fucking damnit, _why haven't you noticed before-_

"... Equius? Are... You okay?"

Startled, you turn around quickly and come to face with Feferi. Unlike you, she is still in her god-tier clothes, with her hood down and concern on her eyes. She looks at the piece of wood on the floor questionably. "What were you doing?"

You fumble with your words, not really knowing how to explain. Part of you _doesn't_ want to explain. "It's, uh, nothing. There is no reason to worry. Apologies for bothering you."

"You're not bothering me, I'm just curious." She walks over to him and sits on the floor, folding her skirt behind her knees. "But seriously, what's the wood for?"

You sigh and turn your head away. Hesitantly, you sit on the floor next to her, leaning on the tree behind you once again for support. You came out here, just outside the Treebase, to relax and have some time alone. You came across the idea of trying _this,_ but now you're too embarrassed to say anything.

"It's..." You shake your head, curling up on fetal position. Gog, you must look pathetic right now. So small, so _weak._

You bite your lip. Feferi is still looking at you patiently. "I... Lost my strength." The words feel like lead on your tongue. You say as of it were a death sentence. She blinks, you've caught her off-guard. She glances at the piece of wood, understanding dawning over her.

"It was just... Such a big part of who I am," you continue. Although you would rather not admit it, you can feel your eyes tingling. You won't cry. " I've lost it, I just, I-" you pause. "I didn't notice before because of my human memories, and when I'm God-tier I'm super strong again. I was never _that_ strong as a human- I don't think humans can even _be_ that strong, but-"

"Y'know... I've lost something too."

Now it's your turn to be startled. You turn to her, and without prompt, she pulls down her hood and shows you her neck.

"Humans don't have gills. I can't breathe underwater anymore." She lifts her hood once again and looks off into the distance. "It was a big part of who I am too, and now I can only stay underwater for a few seconds before my lungs start to hurt and my head starts to get faint. Trust me, I tried it in the bathtub."

The two of you sit in silence after that, contemplating what it meant for each other. You honestly didn't think about how a sea-dweller might adapt to being a land species, just as she didn't think about how you'd adapt into turning so fragile.

"It's...'' She starts. "So annoying! Just- why _us_ of all people?! Everything was fine, the four of us marching in the ghost army towards Lord English and them, _bam!_ Now we're humans, living human lives, but we get to keep our memories and powers, with lots of responsibilities and stuff! I just... I have no _why."_

You watch her breathe heavily after the small rant. The world around you is silent. You hesitantly lift your hand up to put on her shoulder, but remember just in time that you have a moirail. Damned human comforting instincts.

"Feferi," before, you would be appalled to refer to not only a highblood, but the _heiress herself_ in such casual manner, but you're over these days now. "We didn't really talk much before, but I'm starting to realize you aren't such bad company- no offense, you were pleasant before, it's simply that going through difficulties together makes things a bit different, if you know what I mean?"

After a pause, she seems to come back to life. "Oh, absolutely, Equius!" She nods with a smile. "I'll be honest, I thought it would be awkward, I barely know the three of you, but this isn't so bad."

She lifts up her fist in a friendly manner. "Fist bump?"

You hesitate, and then, to hell with it. "Fist bump."

You don't bruise her when your hands collide, and you try not to think about it.

* * *

Your name is LATULA PYROPE, and your mood is dampened.

The branches on the Treebase look awesome. You're sure it'd be really fun to play on them. Especially with a certain someone. A someone with a yellow helmet, lisp, and lovely quirks which made him all the more interesting.

Oh, you miss your little Tuna. You haven't talked to him in an awfulness long time. You're always working and rarely ever have time to call him, much less spend time with him, especially in the past week. So many things happened.

Someone sits next to you in the tree branch, and you're surprised to see Meulin. She's usually so loud, yet now she made a quiet entrance, sitting next to you without a word. She turns to you and tilts her head. "You're sad, what's wrong?"

Oh, that's right. She can see emotions. Maybe that's why she chose to approach quietly, not to disturb you.

" 's nothing." You murmur. It's bullshit, and you know she can literally see through it, but you don't really feel like talking about it. You were never really one to talk about what is on your mind. A Knight Of Mind indeed.

Meulin doesn't say anything, though. She continues to sit quietly and the two of you just enjoy each other's presence. It's calm, and so peaceful here. You can almost let your mind wander around other subjects before it is abruptly brought back into missing your boyfriend. Damnit.

"Love troubles?" Meulin asks, a knowing look on her face. You huff in response, and that seems to be enough.

After a moment of silence, you speak up. "I haven't spent time with Mituna. Last I talked to him was over pesterchum last Monday, and Horuss was there too." You smirk at the memory. "In fact, that was the conversation that made me realize there was something up with Equius."

"You and Equius knew what was going on even before the underling attack?" She asks, surprised.

"Well, kinda. We didn't have the full picture yet,but it was a start." Your smirk disappears. "Back to the topic at hand, Mituna. Or, well, Mitch."

Meulin goes quiet again, and then, "Tomorrow is Saturday, right? You could go on a date."

"Amazing idea, but..." You rub the back of your neck nervously. This is the difficult part. "Mituna and Mitch are... Not. The same person."

Confusion washes over Meulin, her face scrunched up in concentration before lighting up in understanding. "Oh."

"Oh indeed."

Mituna suffered brain damage from overusing his psionic powers. Mitch Captor does not have psionic powers, and therefore never suffered brain damage.

They are different.

"There are still similarities!" You blurt out. "He's still super fun to be around, but-" you wince. "Interacting with him as Layla and interacting with him as Latula is sure gonna be an experience. I met him only after he suffered the damage, so I have no idea how hr was before the accident, apart from, y'know, Layla's memories."

At last, Meulin smiles kindly at you. "I say it you go for it. If Layla liked him, chances are you are going to too." She got up from the branch. "It's up for you to decide. Don't feel pressured to do anything you don't want to do. If you don't want to go on a date with him, then don't."

She walked away, and you sit in silence for a few minutes.

Oh, you don't think there will be hurt in it.

You pick up your phone from your God-tier pants and dial. After a few moments, Mitch picks up.

"Hey boo, what's up! It's been _soooooo_ long!" You smile. "Hey, are you free tomorrow? How about we go to the movies?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I could have done better with it, but here it is anyway.  
> Mama Pounce!!! Mama Scalemate!!! Papa Aurthour!!! MAMA GLUB!!! :0  
> Also, fef and eq being low-key pale was NOT an expected development, I just realized at that moment that "huh, eq's not strong anymore, is he?" And BOOM! Surprise scene!  
> I'm nervous about writing Mituna next chapter. I'll do my best though!
> 
> ((Btw, Joey knowing about something vaguely similar to the Vast Glub is a coincidence. I couldn't help myself))
> 
> Edit: oof almost forgot, user "super fandoms" guessed the treehouse last chapter! Congratulations! :D


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